First Treatise of Government
Locke’s expressions of political philosophies are primarily dominated what came to be known as his Two Treatises of Government. Within that twofold aspect of Lockean exploration of governing principles, the second treatise has come to be the dominant primary work by far. This is because the First Treatise of Government has a more precise and specific motivation and agenda which is to debate, argue and refute the existing foundation of governmental principles outlined in the work of Sir Robert Filmer and attested to by his devotees and followers. Because Locke is directly responding to an existing text, therefore, the First Treatise is composed in such a way as to address point by point pre-existing ideological assumptions and use logic to whittle away at their underlying conceptual roots. Since Filmer’s entire political ideology is based on extrapolation from scriptural precepts, this means that a very large part of the essay addresses Biblical events and doctrines of Christianity. The net result is that the major figures alluded and referenced to are not historical political figures, but rather Adam, Jacob, Esau, Noah and so on as necessary until Locke has finally reduced to a state of absurdity Filmer’s essential underlying rationale:
“His system lies in a little compass, it is no more but this,
That all government is absolute monarchy.
And the ground he builds on, is this,
That no man is born free.”
That Locke’s Treatises of Government were major influence upon the creation of the new American democracy and a guiding hand in Jefferson’s drafting of the Declaration of Independence would likely seem absurd to anyone familiar only with the First Treatise. When one hears the name John Locke in connection with the spirit of the American revolution it is in reference to his Second Treatise, for it is here that Locke leaves behind the spiritual domain of politics and addresses those issues of rights and freedom which were deemed essential components in creating a government by and of the people. Locke again refutes the claims made by others, but also more fully fleshes out an alternative viewpoint—incredibly alternative within a period still dominated by absolute monarchies—for what should exist within a just political system. Among the arguments made by Locke are the existence of a naturally-born right to be free, a defense of the right for all men to acquire property as a product of honest labor, that any government which acts to infringe upon the rights of its citizens has by definition forfeited its authority and—perhaps most important of all—that the only truly legitimate political leadership is one which rules by the consent of those it governs.
First Letter Concerning Toleration
The third fundamental work by Locke which has strongly influenced political theory ever since its publication is the first of three letters written on the subject of toleration. Although still quite relevant today in America, it was of much more controversial significance at the time as the ever-contrarian Locke definitely set himself against the majority opinion established by centuries of precedent. It is in Letter Concerning Toleration that Locke addresses what would become one of the essential cornerstones in the political evolution away from monarchy to democracy: the separation of the interests of the church from the interest of the state. The foundation for this assertion bucking what had been an inviolable status quo for more than a thousand years was Locke’s contention that religious belief should one of the individual rights granted under a just political system. Every citizen should be free to choose their own religion rather than the state determining this choice for them.
