In lecture three, Dr. Harry Binswanger explores John Locke’s views on how men delegate their natural rights to entrust the use of force to a legitimate, non-tyrannical authority. He then turns to Locke’s theory of property rights, why we need them and how we acquire them. He closes the class with a discussion of how Locke’s best insights in politics arose in spite of errors in his epistemology and with regard to religion. He also discusses how Ayn Rand’s ideas can address the shortcomings of what was the best philosophical project of the Enlightenment.
