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Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration

by John Locke

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First published: 1690
Pages: 424

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About this book

Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration brings together the two foundational political works of John Locke (1632-1704), the English philosopher whose Essay Concerning Human Understanding and political writings shape the modern liberal tradition. The Two Treatises were published anonymously in 1689 in defence of the Glorious Revolution that placed William and Mary on the English throne. The First Treatise refutes the patriarchal absolutism of Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha. The Second Treatise sets out Locke's positive account of natural law, the state of nature, the social contract, private property, and the right of revolution against tyrannical government. A Letter Concerning Toleration argues for religious toleration of all peaceable forms of worship and for the separation of civil and ecclesiastical authority. The works shaped the American and French Revolutions and the wider liberal tradition. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.

About the author

John Locke

The Two Treatises of Government appeared anonymously in 1689, and Locke denied authorship until his will. The first demolishes Robert Filmer's claim that kings inherit their authority from Adam; the second builds government on consent instead, on natural rights to life, liberty and property, and on the right of a people to remove a ruler who breaks the trust...