POL100: Introduction to Politics
Questions for 9/8 (Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding readings)

What is the "source of all liberty" according to Locke? (13)

Locke claims that "the care of ourselves, that we mistake not imaginary for true happiness, is the necessary foundation of our liberty." (15) What does he mean by that claim? Do you find it persuasive?

Locke writes: "Men may choose different things, and yet all choose right, supposing them only like a Company of poor Insects, whereof some are Bees, delighted with Flowers, and their sweetness; others, Beetles, delighted with other kinds of Viands, which having enjoyed for a season, they should cease to be, and exist no more for ever." What is he claiming here? Why compare people to insects?

How does Locke justify criminal punishment? To what extent are you responsible for forming your own tastes, according to Locke?