Locke: Political Writings (Hackett Classics)

John Locke s 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 XVI 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 draft--are almost defiantly anti-liberal in outlook.

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