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A highly influential figure in the Age of Enlightenment in England and France, whose works helped inspire the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, John Locke was one of the most important political theorists in Western history. In The Second Treatise of Government,... Read Full Overview

'Man being born...to perfect freedom...hath by nature a power...to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty and estate.'

Locke's Second Treatise of Government (1689) is one of the great classics of political philosophy, widely regarded as the... Read Full Overview

In His "Second Treatise of Government", John Locke refutes the concept of the monarchy's divine right and establishes a theory reconciling civil liberties with political order. Locke's Letter Concerning Toleration rests on the same basic principles as his political theory; Locke's... Read Full Overview

'Man being born...to perfect freedom...hath by nature a power...to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty and estate.' Locke's Second Treatise of Government (1689) is one of the great classics of political philosophy, widely regarded as the foundational text of modern... Read Full Overview