John Locke's Social Contract and Natural Rights Argument in Relation to Free WillOne of the most important philosophical and political questions for humanity is the conflict between freedom and security. This is often called a balance between the two. This problem has existed for as long as we have existed. In this article, I will discuss some of the theories of 17th century English philosopher John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government and how they apply to this situation. I then intend to relate his arguments to the problem of free will. In this article, I will describe John Locke's theory of social contracts and natural rights in civil government and then defend his argument. The philosophical problem of liberty versus security is one that has existed for as long as humanity has had governments. The dilemma lies in the fact that people want to enjoy freedom. However, if everyone had complete freedom, then there would be the potential for murder, mayhem, and mayhem (since people would have the freedom to do whatever they want). On the other hand, if society had complete security, people would have no freedom. In other words, the people would have no will; they would be completely manipulated and controlled. Because both extremes (total freedom or total security) are not desired, we must now decide which freedoms are we willing to trade for security and vice versa. This is the goal of the balance between security and freedom. Another philosophical issue I hope to address in this article is that of free will, which seeks to determine whether free will exists and if so, how? I believe John Locke took a good stance on both of these philosophical issues. John Locke was a...... middle of paper......1690." Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke. Np, and Web. April 28, 2014. “John Locke.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, April 27, 2014. Web. April 30, 2014. "John Locke | Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism." John Locke | Natural law, natural rights, and American constitutionalism. Np, and Web. April 30, 2014. "John Locke: Second Treatise on Civil Government: Chapter 2." John Locke: Second Treatise on Civil Government: Chapter 2. Np, nd Web. April 30, 2014. .Uzgalis, William. “John Locke.” Stanford University. Stanford University, September 2, 2001. Web. April 28. 2014. .