Chapter III

Locke defines the state of war as enmity and destruction, initiated when someone declares a settled design upon another's life, which justifies defensive killing.

Locke argues that attempting to force someone into absolute power is equivalent to declaring war, since freedom is the foundation of all preservation and rights.

Because a thief uses force without right to take freedom and property, one may lawfully kill him, as he has put himself in a state of war by being the aggressor.

Locke clarifies that the state of nature is peace under reason without a common judge, while the state of war arises from force or declared force without appeal to authority.

In civil society, the state of war ceases when actual force ends and legal appeal is available; but in nature or when justice is perverted, the war continues until reconciliation or the innocent can destroy the aggressor.

Locke argues that avoiding the state of war, where no earthly authority can judge, is a primary reason men enter into civil society and abandon the state of nature.