In the Shadow of Leviathan

John Locke and the Politics of Conscience

Jeffrey R. Collins

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781108478816
• eBook ISBN: 9781108788878
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political History & Theory
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke sit together in the canon of political thought but are rarely treated in common historical accounts. This book narrates their intertwined careers during the Restoration period, when the two men found themselves in close proximity and entangled in many of the same political conflicts. Bringing new source material to bear, In the Shadow of Leviathan establishes the influence of Hobbesian thought over Locke, particularly in relation to the preeminent question of religious toleration. Excavating Hobbes's now forgotten case for a prudent, politique toleration gifted by sovereign power, Jeffrey R. Collins argues that modern, liberal thinking about toleration was transformed by Locke's gradual emancipation from this Hobbesian mode of thought. This book investigates those landmark events - the civil war, Restoration, the popish plot, the Revolution of 1688 - which eventually forced Locke to confront the limits of politique toleration, and to devise an account of religious freedom as an inalienable right.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Note on the Text
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 John Locke and Interregnum Hobbism
• Chapter 2 The Restoration Projects of Thomas Hobbes
• Chapter 3 Locke and the Restoration Politique
• Chapter 4 Non-domination Liberty in Spiritual Context
• Chapter 5 Locke, Conscience, and the Libertas Ecclesiae
• Chapter 6 Locke and Catholicism: The ‘Roman Leviathan’
• Chapter 7 Locke and a ‘More Liberal’ Hobbism
• Conclusion: Conscience and Liberalism’s Two Paths
• Bibliography
• Index