Synopses & Reviews
In this work, Ruth W. Grant presents a new approach to John Locke's familiar works. Taking the unusual step of relating Locke's Two Treatises to his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Grant establishes the unity and coherence of Locke's political arguments. She analyzes the Two Treatises as a systematic demonstration of liberal principles of right and power and grounds it in the epistemology set forth in the Essay.
About the Author
Ruth W. Grant is professor of political science and philosophy and senior fellow in the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. She is the author of John Lockes Liberalism and Hypocrisy and Integrity: Machiavelli, Rousseau and the Ethics of Politics, the latter of which received the best book award from the North American Society for Political Philosophy in 1997. She is also the editor of Naming Evil, Judging Evil and In Search of Goodness.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Possibility of Political Theory
Introduction
Two Kinds of Understanding
The Essay and the Two Treatises
The Application and the Foundation of Moral Knowledge
Moral Knowledge and Moral Freedom
Conclusion: Reason and Politics
2. Legitimate and Illegitimate Power: The Normative Theory
The Requirements of Political Theory
Legitimate and Illegitimate Power: The First Treatise
Legitimate and Illegitimate Power: The Second Treatise
3. Legitimate and Illegitimate Power: Practical Tests of the Normative Theory
Introduction
Obligation
Resistance
4. Reason and Politics Reconsidered
Introduction
Government as Judge
Reason, Freedom, Will
Conclusion: Locke and Liberal Theory
Bibliography
Index