洛克政治哲学中的自然法与政治义务的根基

Natural Law and the Ground of Political Obligation in Locke's Political Philosophy

洛克认为人们自愿同意是他们负有政治义务的必要条件;但对人们为什么要受政治义务约束这个政治义务根基问题的解释,诉诸人们的自愿同意抑或人们之间相互的自然平等的这种道德意识和道德理解,都是不足够的。洛克认为人们接受正当政府法律规则约束的义务的最终原因,要经由守诺的自然义务最终追溯到自然法本身才能获得合理的理解。至于那些未明确表示加入社会契约服从政府但又生活在该政治社会之中的非公民成员的义务问题,诉诸正义的自然义务比洛克提出的默认同意的解决方案,在理论上更加合理同时实践上也能保证社会成员的正义合作能有效开展。洛克政治义务的基础,以及由于他对自愿同意的强调带来的非正式社会成员的义务问题,都只能在其自然法理论中才能得到合理的理解或更好的解决。

Locke＇s theory of voluntary consent explains how legitimate political authority can arise and how individuals become subject to political obligation. However, it is not a theory of why we are obliged to such a political authority. In Locke＇s thought, the basis of political obligation grounded in neither the act of voluntary consent itself nor individuals＇ moral sense or understanding of reciprocal natural equality. The ground of political obligation cannot be properly understood without appeal to the natural duty of keeping one＇s promises and ultimately the natural law itself. And I propose that, compared to Locke＇s tacit consent, the idea of natural duty of justice derived from Locke＇s natural law is more suitable to deal with the problem of whether the resident aliens who lived within the political community have any duty to comply with the political authority.