Cultural Contexts free essay sample

Compares cultural contexts of two works, Republic ( Plato ) Second Treatise of Government ( John Locke), views on states structures, rule of law, ethics, property, legitimacy purpose of govt. The purpose of this research is to examine issues surrounding the rule of law in relationship to the legitimacy of the state, as put forward in Platos Republic and Lockes Second Treatise of Government. The plan of the research will be set forth the cultural context in which each theorists views emerged, and then to focus on his treatment of the origins of how a state comes to be structured. According to Cornford, Platos Republic has to be considered in the context of the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War and the waning years of Greeces democratic golden age, proceeding toward the years of the Athenian empire (Cornford, 1945). John Locke developed his views in the context of the 1688 Revolution in England, which followed rule and abdication of the Catholic James II, who believed in divine right of kings and dissolved