Two Treatises of Government by John Locke
Published after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought William of Orange and Mary to the throne, but written in the throes of the Whig revolutionary plots against Charles II in the early 1680s, John Locke offers a theory of natural law and natural rights which distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and argues for the legitimacy of revolt against tyrannical governments. These radical ideas remain influential today. In these two treatises the political philosopher John Locke espouses radical theories which influenced the ideologies of the American and French revolutions, and became the basis for the social and political philosophies of Rousseau, Voltaire and the United States founding fathers. In the first treatise Locke aims to refute the doctrine of the patriarchal and absolute right of the Divine Right of Kings doctrine put forth by Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha. He examines key Biblical passages to prove that scripture does not support Filmer's premise. The second treatise offers Locke's positive theory of government in which he establishes a theory which reconciles the liberty of the citizen with political order. His basic premise is founded on the independence of the individual. He declares that men are born free and equal in their rights and that wealth is the product of labor. In his revolutionary theory of the social contract he proposes that a legitimate civil government must preserve the rights to life, liberty, health and property of its citizens, and prosecute and punish those in violation of those rights. Reprint of the 1698 third edition.John Locke was the son of a land steward and was educated at Westminster School and Oxford. He was born in Wrington, near Bristol, and was the son of a land steward. Locke became a lecturer in Greek in 1660, Rhetoric in 1662, and Secretary to an Embassy in Brandenburg in 1664. He studied Descartes and Bacon as a student. Then, drawn to experimental research, he studied medicine and practiced for a short time in Oxford. In 1667, he authored his Essay on Toleration, which was inspired by his thoughts on morals and government. If not a particularly clever or unique philosopher, Locke was a calm, intelligent, and reasonable writer, and his publications had a significant impact on both English and French philosophy in the following century.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781616190347 |
| ISBN 10 | 1616190345 |
| Title | Two Treatises of Government |
| Author | John Locke |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. |
| Year published | 2010-02-15 |
| Number of pages | 368 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |