Answer:
1. What was John Locke’s educational and political background? How did his background reflect Enlightenment ideas?
John Locke studied science and medicine at Oxford University and became a political professor. His background reflected Enlightenment ideas because while he was a professor at Oxford university he sided with the Protestant Parliament against the Roman Catholic Church in the Revolution of 1685.
2. Although Locke in agreed with Hobbes about the necessity of a social contract in a brutish state of nature, what were his disagreements regarding man’s natural rights and the operation of the social contract?
Different from Hobbes, Locke didn't believe that man wasn't born to be subject to a monarch. Instead, the man was free and should maintain his freedom. However, it was hard to protect his property and it was necessary for an institution to do that. Thus, the social contract was to create this deal between man and a state that should protect him, but with limitations.
3.What were Locke’s views on property and its relationship to government?
The defense of property for the English philosopher John Locke arises with the idea of Natural State. This Natural State consists of the idea that common property is a divine gift, that is, the earth is a gift from God for men to develop and make a living from. That is, for Locke, the property is divine and common gift among all men. The government had the duty to protect this property and the divine rights of its owners.
4. Explain Locke’s ideas about representative government. What role did property play in his conception of voting rights?
Locke favored a representative government such as the English Parliament, which had a hereditary House of Lords and an elected House of Commons. But he wanted representatives to be only men of property and business. Consequently, only adult male property owners should have the right to vote.
Explanation:
