Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T20:09:50.179Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

John Locke: From Absolutism to Toleration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Robert P. Kraynak
Robert P. Kraynak*
Affiliation:
Colgate University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Many of Locke's early writings have been discovered and published in the last 30 years. Among them are two short tracts in which Locke argues that the power of the civil magistrate should be absolute. Because these early tracts are very different from Locke's later teachings, they have been misunderstood by contemporary scholars who do not see any connection between absolutism and liberal toleration. I explain the connection by reconstructing Locke's critique of religious politics, which reveals that absolutism and toleration are the same in principle despite their great difference in practice. I then use this demonstration to explain Locke's development and to illuminate the foundations of contemporary liberalism.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , September 1980 , pp. 53 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, Phillip (1967). Introduction to John Locke, Two Tracts on Government. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Aquinas, Saint Thomas (1947). Summa Theologica, 3 vols. Translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. New York: Benziger Brothers.Google Scholar
Ashcraft, Richard (1969). “Faith and Knowledge in Locke's Philosophy.” In Yolton, John W. (ed.), John Locke: Problems and Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bourne, H. R. Fox (1876). The Life of John Locke, 2 vols. London: Henry S. King.Google Scholar
Cranston, Maurice (1957). John Locke: A Biography. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Dunn, John M. (1969). The Political Thought of John Locke. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gough, John W. (1973). John Locke's Political Philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hobbes, Thomas (1962). Leviathan. Edited by Oakeshott, Michael. New York: Collier.Google Scholar
Hooker, Richard (1843). The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. Edited by Walton, Isaac. Oxford: T. Tegg.Google Scholar
King, Lord Peter (1972; first published 1830). The Life and Letters of John Locke, with Extracts from his Journals, Correspondence, and the Common Place Books. New York: Burt Franklin.Google Scholar
Laslett, Peter (1960). Introduction to John Locke, Two Treatises of Government. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Locke, John (1959). An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Edited by Fraser, Alexander. New York: Dover Publications.Google Scholar
Locke, John (1954). Essays on the Law of Nature. Edited with an introduction Von Leyden, by W.. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Locke, John (1950). A Letter Concerning Toleration. Edited by Romanell, Patrick. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
Locke, John (1966). Of the Conduct of the Understanding. Edited by Garforth, Francis. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Locke, John (1967). Two Tracts on Government. Edited with an introduction by Abrams, Phillip. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Locke, John (1960). Two Treatises of Government. Edited with an introduction by Laslett, Peter. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mabott, John D. (1973). John Locke. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seliger, M. (1968). The Liberal Politics of John Locke. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Tarcov, Nathan (1975). Locke's Thoughts Concerning Education, The Family, and Politics. Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Tocqueville, Alexis de (1945). Democracy in America, 2 vols. Edited by Bradley, Phillip. New York: Vintage, Random House.Google Scholar
Viano, C. A. (1961). John Locke: Scritti Editi e Inediti sulla Toleranza. Turin: Einaudi.Google Scholar
Von Leyden, W. (1954). Introduction to John Locke, Essays on the Law of Nature. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Worcester, Elwood (1889). The Religious Opinions of John Locke. Geneva, N.Y.: W.H. Humphrey.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.