Second Treatise Of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration — John Locke

Lockes Second Treatise of Government 1689 is one of the great classics of political philosophy widely regarded as the foundational text of modern liberalism In it Locke insists on majority rule and regards no government as legitimate unless it has the consent of the people He sets aside peoples ethnicities religions and cultures and envisages political societies which command our assent because they meet our elemental needs simply as humans His work helped to entrench ideas of a social contract human rights and protection of property as the guiding principles for just actions and just societies Published in the same year A Letter Concerning Toleration aimed to end Christianitys wars of religion and called for the separation of church and state so that everyone could enjoy freedom of conscience In this edition of these two major works Mark Goldie considers the contested nature of Lockes reputation which is often appropriated by opposing political and religious ideologies

Locke s Second Treatise of Government 1689 is one of the great classics of political philosophy widely regarded as the foundational text of modern liberalism In it Locke insists on majority rule and regards no government as legitimate unless it has the consent of the people He sets aside people s ethnicities religions and cultures and envisages political societies which command our assent because they meet our elemental needs simply as humans His work helped to entrench ideas of a social contract human rights and protection of property as the guiding principles for just actions and just societies Published in the same year A Letter Concerning Toleration aimed to end Christianity s wars of religion and called for the separation of church and state so that everyone could enjoy freedom of conscience In this edition of these two major works Mark Goldie considers the contested nature of Locke s reputation which is often appropriated by opposing political and religious ideologies