TWO TREATISES OF GOVERNMENT IBD

Sinopsis

Two Treatises of Governmentá is a work ofápolitical philosophyápublished anonymously in 1689 byáJohn Locke. TheáFirst Treatiseáattacksápatriarchalismáin the form of sentence-by-sentence refutation ofáRobert FilmerâÇÖsáPatriarcha, while theáSecond Treatiseáoutlines LockeâÇÖs ideas for a more civilized society based onánatural rightsáandácontract theory. The book is a key foundational text in the theory ofáLiberalism.This publication contrasts former political works by Locke himself. InáTwo Tracts on Government, written in 1660, Locke defends a very conservative position, however, Locke never published it.áIn 1669, Locke co-authored theáFundamental Constitutions of Carolina, which endorses aristocracy, slavery andáserfdom.áSome dispute the extent to which the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina portray LockeâÇÖs own philosophy, vs. that of the Lord proprietors of the colony, the document was a legal document written for and signed and sealed by the eight Lord proprietors to whom Charles II had granted the colony. In this context, Locke was only a paid secretary, writing it much as a lawyer writes a will.Two Treatisesáwas first published anonymously in December 1689 (following printing conventions of the time, its title page was marked 1690). Locke was dissatisfied with the numerous errors and complained to the publisher. For the rest of his life, he was intent on republishing theáTwo Treatisesáin a form that better reflected its intended meaning.áPeter Laslett, one of the foremost Locke scholars, has suggested that Locke held the printers to a higher 'standard of perfection' than the technology of the time would permit.áBe that as it may, the first edition was indeed replete with errors. The second edition was even worse, in addition to being printed on cheap paper and sold to the poor. The third edition was much improved, but still deemed unsatisfactory by Locke.áHe manually corrected the third edition by hand and entrusted the publication of the fourth to his friends, as he died before it could be brought out.Two Treatisesáis prefaced with Locke announcing what he aims to achieve, also mentioning that more than half of his original draft, occupying a space between theáFirstáandáSecond Treatises, has been irretrievably lost.[9]áPeter Laslett maintains that, while Locke may have added or altered some portions in 1689, he did not make any revisions to accommodate for the missing section, he argues, for example, that the end of theáFirst Treatiseábreaks off in mid-sentence