Volume 13, Number 9 · November 20, 1969
The "New" Locke
By Alan Ryan
Locke and Berkeley
edited by David M. Armstrong, edited by C.B. Martin
Notre Dame, 470 pp., $7.95
The Political Thought of John Locke
by John Dunn
Cambridge, 280 pp., $10.00
John Locke: Problems and Perspectives
edited by John Yolton
Cambridge, 350 pp., $9.50
The Educational Writings of John Locke
edited by James Axtell
Cambridge, 442 pp., $12.50
John Locke: Two Tracts on Government
edited by Philip Abrams
Cambridge, 263 pp., $7.50
Locke's "Two Treatises of Government"
edited by Peter Laslett
Cambridge, 525 pp., $11.50
Until recently, the image of John Locke conveyed by English writers of history, political theory, and philosophy was an unsubtle exercise in national self-congratulation. The seeds of such English gifts to mankind as religious toleration, political liberty, industrial progress, the empirical frame of mind uniquely favorable to scientific discovery—all these were sown by Locke. It was regrettably true, of course, that Locke was muddled, inclined to major inconsistencies and a degree of incoherence remarkable in a great thinker. But these vices were regarded with a certain complacency as the signs of Locke's enormously English gift for compromise. Not for him to sink consistently by one principle when he might swim by a judicious—his own favorite commendation—mixture of several. The evidence of the senses was balanced by the axiomatic mechanics of Newton; a down-to-earth utilitarianism was strengthened by the revelation of God's own moral code, the democratic implications of government by consent moderated by a proper concern for the rights of property.
Review, 3125 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |