Political Writings: John Locke by John Locke, David Wootton (Introduction)

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John Locke¹s Second Treatise of Government (c. 1681) is perhaps the key founding liberal text. A Letter Concerning Toleration, written in 1685 ( a year when a Catholic monarch 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 Locke¹s other writings‹not least the Constitutions of Carolina, which he helped draft‹are almost defiantly anti-liberal in outlook.

This comprehensive collection brings together the main published works (excluding polemical attacks on other people¹s views) with the most important surviving evidence from among Locke¹s papers relating to his political philosophy. David Wootton¹s wide-ranging and scholarly Introduction sets the writings in the context of their time, examines Locke¹s developing ideas and unorthodox Christianity, and analyzes his main arguments. The result is the first fully rounded picture of Locke¹s political thought in his own words.

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