Two Treatises of Government

The Two Treatises of Government is a work of political philosophy published in 1689 by John Locke. The two component treatises are often discussed as separate works, though Locke himself never published them separately. The Second Treatise is often cited as a manifesto for liberal democracy and capitalism, and so has been alternately praised and villified, depending on one's point of view. Locke claims in the Preface to the work that its purpose is to justify William of Orange's ascension to the throne of England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, though recent scholarship has suggested that the bulk of the writing was completed between 1679-1682. That he would write a defense of revolution during the Exclusion Crisis, i.e., during the reign of Charles II, rather than in anticipation of the imminent ouster of James II, serves to cast the work in a very radical light. Locke further edited the Treatises before publication. Books in Seventeenth-century England were dated the same way we date automobile model years, so a date of 1690 on the title page means that a book was published in 1689.

Related Topics:
Political philosophy - 1689 - John Locke - William of Orange - Glorious Revolution - Exclusion Crisis - Charles II - James II

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