Political Writings

The Second Treatise of Government is the founding text of liberal political theory. The Letter Concerning Toleration, written in 1685 (a year when a Catholic came to the throne of England and Louis XIV unleashed a reign of terror against Protestants in France), is a classic defense of religious freedom. Yet many of Locke’s other writings—not least the Constitutions of Carolina, which he helped draw up—are almost defiantly anti-liberal in oudook. This comprehensive selection brings together the main published works (excluding polemical attacks on other people’s views), letters to friends, a report on poor relief, and even material from private papers. The wide-ranging and scholarly Introduction sets them in the contexts of their time, examines Locke’s developing ideas and unorthodox Christianity, and analyzes the main arguments. The result is the first fully rounded picture of Locke’s political thought.