Chapter I

Locke asserts that Adam possessed neither natural paternal authority nor divine grant over his children or the world, contrary to absolutist claims.

Even if Adam possessed authority, his heirs would have no legitimate right to inherit it.

Without a law of nature or divine law specifying the rightful heir, the right of succession to rule could never be certainly established.

The historical knowledge of which line is Adam's eldest has been irretrievably lost, so no one can claim precedence by inheritance.

Current rulers cannot derive any legitimate authority from Adam's dominion, so one must reject Filmer's doctrine and find an alternative origin of political power.

Locke proposes to define political power in order to distinguish it from paternal, marital, and other private powers that may exist in the same person.

Political power is the right to make laws with penalties including death, employ the community's force in execution, defend the commonwealth, and all this solely for the public good.