Thoughts on civil liberty, on licentiousness, and faction/Section 2
SECT.II.
Of the Nature of Civil Liberty.
TO some it will doubtless appear a superfluous Labour, to fix the true Idea of civil Liberty, in a Country which boasts itself free. Yet the Writer esteems it a necessary though obvious Task: Not only that he may appeal to his Idea of it, thus established; but also, because in the Conduct (at least) if not in the Writings of his Countrymen, it seems to have been sometimes mistaken.
The natural Liberty of Man, considered merely as a solitary and savage Individual, would generally lead him to a full and unbounded Prosecution of all his Appetites. Some Savages there are, though few, who live nearly, if not altogether, in this brutal State of Nature.
These last Expressions, it must be confessed, are inadequate to their Subject: For such a State of Man is worse than that of Brutes, and in the strict Sense, is also contrary to Nature. For Brutes are endowed with unerring Instincts, which Man possesseth not: Therefore such a solitary and wretched State is strictly unnatural; because it prevents the Exertion of those Powers, which his Nature is capable of attaining: But those Powers Society alone can call forth into Action.
Man is therefore formed for Society: That is, Man is formed for Intercourse with Man: Hence, through the natural Developement of the human Powers, a Variety of new Wants, a Necessity for mutual Aids and distinct Properties, must arise: From these, a new Accession, as well as a frequent Disagreement and Clashing of Desires must inevitably ensue. Hence the Necessity of curbing and fixing the Desires of Man in the social State; by such equal Laws, as may compel the Appetites of each Individual to yield to the common Good of all.
From this salutary Restraint, civil Liberty is derived. Every natural Desire which might in any Respect be inconsistent with the general Weal, is given up as a voluntary Tax, paid for the higher, more lasting, and more important Benefits, which we reap from social Life.