John Locke on the Purpose of Government
Text reads:
"The end of government is the good of mankind . . . and which is best for mankind, that the people should be always exposed to the boundless will of tyranny, or that the rulers should be sometimes liable to be opposed when they grow exorbitant in their power, and employ it for the destruction and not the preservation of the properties of the people?"

Artwork: 2006.22.2

John Locke on the Purpose of Government

November 1950
Offset lithograph on magazine paper

Image: 13 x 10 1/2 inches
Frame: 20 1/4 x 17 1/4 inches
Great Ideas of Western Man
Gift of Bobby and Kelly Gold
Ben Shahn, John Locke on the Purpose of Government, featuring The Voting Booths, November 1950. Advertisement for the Container Corporation of America, Great Ideas of Western Man No. 5. Collection of Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. Gift of Bobby and Kelly Gold.