For three decades, John Locke has been the object of a tug-of-war between scholars who view him as the father of modern liberalism and those who view him as an exponent of civic republicanism. A closer reading of Lockes life and thought reveals that he was both, and that the ahistorical liberal-republican debate has obscured rather than illuminated the nature of Lockes radicalism and influence.
Was Locke a Liberal?
By Jerome Huyler
This
article
appeared in
the Spring 1997 issue of The Independent Review.
Other Independent Review articles by Jerome Huyler | |
Winter 2018/19 | Reader Response: The Road to Crony Capitalism: Locke, Jefferson and American History |
Summer 1997 | The Myth of American Individualism |