Locke / Important Vocabulary Week 8

Word + Part of speech (grammar)

Definition

Right/Rights (n)

Something you are morally or legally allowed to do, receive or have (e.g. it is your right to receive a student discount when buying a bus ticket).

Duty (n)

What you or someone else has to do (e.g. it is your teacher’s duty to give you feedback on your assignments).

Property (n)

Objects/things that belong to someone or an organisation.

Acquire (v)

Acquisition (n)

To come into possession or ownership of something. The noun (n) for acquire is ‘acquisition’.

Justify (v)

Justification (n)

To show or prove something is correct (e.g. in your essay, you will have to justify your arguments). The noun (n) form is ‘justification’.

Revolution (n)

Revolt (v)

An overthrow and replacement of an established government or sovereign by the people governed.

Revolt means to break away from an authority.

Less dire (adj)

Not as dreadful or terrible as previously thought. Basically, it means ‘not as bad’ (e.g. Locke’s concept of the state of nature was less dire than Hobbe’s).

[Moral] conscience (n)

The inner belief of what is right and wrong.

Instantiate (v)

To provide an instance (i.e. an example) of a theory, claim, or argument.

Epistemology (n)

The study of knowledge.