The Coherence of Locke's Thought

Within a few years following the publication of the Two Treatises of Government , Locke had published works on toleration, education, religion, philosophy and economics. By the end of the seventeenth century, Lockean ideas had infiltrated nearly every aspect of English cultural life, and were rapidly gaining widespread acceptance within Europe as well. In many respects, it is easier to appreciate the cumulative effect Locke’s ideas have had upon the development of Western European culture than it is to sort out the relative influence of his particular works or to state precisely their relationship to each other within the general framework of Lockean thought.