John Locke: Second Treatise on Civil Government (1690)
Impact
Locke's influence on thinkers and political actors in the eighteenth century was varied. Often that influence was indirect, as those who followed him, rather than forming a cohesive group of philosophical disciples, were attracted to different aspects of his views. Some built upon his epistemology, the philosophical line of inquiry that examines what can be known and the process of knowing. Others were attracted to his advocacy of religious toleration, while still others saw his quiet reasoning style as a model for thinking in the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment.
What can be said with some assurance is that Locke in general and the Second Treatise on Civil Government in particular had a profound impact on the American colonists—although a minority of scholars dispute this view. The Declaration of Independence, which Thomas Jefferson said was an expression of American sentiment, is a very Lockean document, for the principles embodied in the declaration can trace...
