Second Treatise of Government
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~56,400 words · 268 passages
Cite this work
- APAJohn Locke. (n.d.). Second Treatise of Government. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/john-locke/second-treatise-of-government
- MLAJohn Locke. "Second Treatise of Government." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/john-locke/second-treatise-of-government.
- ChicagoJohn Locke. Second Treatise of Government. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/john-locke/second-treatise-of-government.
What it is about
Second Treatise of Government (1689): government exists by the consent of the governed.
Context and history
State of nature, property founded in labour, separation of powers and the right of resistance against a tyrant. The American Declaration of Independence takes phrases from it almost verbatim. It is the founding text of political liberalism.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
was published in 1690. The complete unabridged text has been republished several times in edited commentaries. This text is recovered entire from the paperback book, “John Locke Second Treatise of Government”, Edited, with an Introduction, By C.B. McPherson, Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis and Cambridge, 1980. None of the McPherson edition is included in the Etext below; only the original words contained in the 1690 Locke text is included. The 1690 edition text is free of copyright. * * * * * TWO TREATISES OF GOVERNMENT BY IOHN LOCKE SALUS POPULI SUPREMA LEX ESTO LONDON PRINTED MDCLXXXVIII REPRINTED, THE SIXTH TIME, BY A. MILLAR, H. WOODFALL, 1. WHISTON AND B. WHITE, 1. RIVINGTON, L. DAVIS AND C. REYMERS, R. BALDWIN, HAWES CLARKE AND COLLINS; W. IOHNSTON, W. OWEN, 1. RICHARDSON, S. CROWDER, T. LONGMAN, B. LAW, C. RIVINGTON, E. DILLY, R. WITHY, C. AND R. WARE, S. BAKER, T. PAYNE, A. SHUCKBURGH, 1. HINXMAN MDCCLXIII TWO TREATISES OF GOVERNMENT. IN THE FORMER THE FALSE PRINCIPLES AND FOUNDATION OF SIR ROBERT FILMER AND HIS FOLLOWERS ARE DETECTED AND OVERTHROWN. THE LATTER IS AN ESSAY CONCERNING THE TRUE ORIGINAL EXTENT AND END OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 1764 EDITOR’S NOTE The present Edition of this Book has not only been collated with the first three Editions, which were published during the Author’s Life, but also has the Advantage of his last Corrections and Improvements, from a Copy delivered by him to Mr. Peter Coste, communicated to the Editor, and now lodged in Christ College, Cambridge. PREFACE Reader, thou hast here the beginning and end of a discourse concerning government; what fate has otherwise disposed of the papers that should have filled up the middle, and were more than all the rest, it is not worth while to tell thee. These, which remain, I hope are sufficient to establish the throne of our great restorer, our pr
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