Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration

John Locke, Ian Shapiro

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9780300129182
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political History & Theory
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Among the most influential writings in the history of Western political thought, John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration remain vital to political debates today, more than three centuries after they were written. The complete texts appear in this volume, accompanied by interpretive essays by three prominent Locke scholars. Ian Shapiro’s introduction places Locke’s political writings in historical and biographical context. John Dunn explores both the intellectual context in which Locke wrote the Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration and the major interpretive controversies surrounding their meaning. Ruth Grant offers a comprehensive discussion of Locke’s views on women and the family, and Shapiro contributes an essay on the democratic elements of Locke’s political theory. Taken together, the texts and essays in this volume offer invaluable insights into the history of ideas and the enduring influence of Locke’s political thought.

Ian Shapiro is William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor and chair, Department of Political Science, Yale University. John Dunn is professor of social and political science at Cambridge University. Ruth Grant is professor of political science at Duke University

Table of contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Note on the Texts
• Two Treatises of Government
• The First Treatise: The False Principles and Foundation of Sir Robert Filmer
• The Second Treatise: An Essay Concerning the True Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government
• A Letter Concerning Toleration
• Essays
• Measuring Locke’s Shadow
• John Locke on Women and the Family
• John Locke’s Democratic Theory
• Index