Introduction

Thirty years ago, Locke’s Two Treatises of Government was viewed as the classic expression of liberal political ideas. It was read as a defence of individualism and of the natural right of individuals to appropriate private property. The Two Treatises , it was argued, stated the fundamental principles of the Whigs, and thus served as an intellectual justification for the Glorious Revolution of 1689. The Two Treatises of Government provided, in short, a general philosophical defence of the rights of property-owners to institute and defend a political system based upon their consent, and a specific historical defence of the actions of the landed gentry and aristocracy in placing William and Mary on the English throne in 1689. Moreover, Locke’s work, and especially the Second Treatise , was often characterized as the first secular expression of political theory in the modern era.