John Locke's Second Treatise of Government (c. 1681) is perhaps the key founding
liberal text. A Letter Concerning Toleration , written in 1685 (a year when a C
atholic monarch came to the throne of England and Louis XVI unleashed a reign of
terror against Protestants in France), is a classic defense of religious freedo
m.
Yet many of Locke's other writings--not least the Constitutions of Carolin
a, which he helped draft--are almost defiantly anti-liberal in outlook. This com
prehensive collection brings together the main published works (excluding polemi
cal attacks on other people's views) with the most important surviving evidence
from among Locke's papers relating to his political philosophy. David Wootton's
wide-ranging and scholarly Introduction sets the writings in the context of thei
r time, examines Locke's developing ideas and unorthodox Christianity, and analy
zes his main arguments.
