A newly discovered text shows how the battles of the past are still being fought today
Lost in the library of a small American college has lain a text by one of England’s foremost philosophers that no one knew he had written. “Reasons for tolerateing Papists equally with others”, a work by the early Enlightenment philosopher John Locke was discovered in the archives of St John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, by the independent scholar JC Walmsley. The find, announced last week, has been greeted with excitement by both philosophers and historians. It is significant, too, in throwing light upon political debates that have as much relevance now as they did 400 years ago.
Locke is central to modern politics because of his foundational role in liberalism. His Two Treatises on Government was highly influential in the development of liberal democracy. A Letter Concerning Toleration, published in 1689, is a key text in furthering notions of free speech and religious toleration. Both works shaped the thinking of Thomas Jefferson and other leaders of the American Revolution and underlay their commitment to the separation of church and state.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/34rKunb
via
0 Comments