Body As Capital

Chris Brooke chris.brooke at magdalen.oxford.ac.uk
Fri May 18 11:13:11 PDT 2001


Leo Casey wrote:


>May be. But it is also classic John Locke. The only question is why those of
>us running around with our bodies as our only capital accept such tripe.

Locke is more ambiguous on this than his reputation has it. Sometimes we are self-owning, sometimes we are owned by God. It depends on the context.

So, in paragraph 27 of the Second Treatise, we have this: "Though the Earth, and all inferior Creatures be common to all Men, yet every Man has a Property in his own Person".

But, when he sets out his opposition to suicide in paragraph 6, we get this: "For Men being all the Workmanship of one Sovereign Master, sent into the World by his order and about his business, they are his Property, whose Workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one anothers Pleasure."

C.

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========== Chris Brooke Magdalen College Oxford OX1 4AU



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