Individual Liberty And Government

John Locke (1632-1704), the British pioneer of the philosophy of empiricism, and of European Enlightenment, is also the founder of the western liberalism. Locke's most important works include A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689 ), Two Treatises of Government(1690), An Essay Concerning Human Understanding(1690), Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693), The Reasonableness of Christianity, as Delivered in the Scriptures (1695), etc.. Locke's political thought is mainly embodied in his Two Treatises of Government. In Part I Locke criticizes divine monarchical power while in Part II Locke argues for the theory and principles of government. The discussion of this thesis is mainly based on Part II of Two Treatises of Government. The thesis is divided into three parts:Part one is a discussion of Locke's theory of liberty and its historical origins. Locke's accounts of liberty are both an inheritance and a further development of the accounts of his predecessors. On this basis, Locke made his own Liberal views.In part two I elaborated Locke's idea of the significance of political society and government for the realization and guarantee of individual liberty. Locke argues that as government is originated from the need of protection of individual liberty, it must follow a series of principles and be subject to various constraints and limits. This part focuses on Locke's conception of liberal government.With part three, I tried to work on the historically profound impact of Locke's liberal thought of government on future generations, especially on the liberal thinkers from Britain, the United States, France and other countries and their countries' national construction. At the same time, I argued that we can also draw the essence from Locke's liberal thought when we consider the construction and improvement of government in contemporary China. .