The Essential John Locke

by Eric Mack

No single individual is ever the sole founder of any major stance in political philosophy. Nevertheless, if one were forced to name the founder of the classical liberal perspective in political thought which holds as its primary political principle that individual liberty is to be respected and protected one would have to point to the English philosopher John Locke. This short book offers a sympathetic account of the key contentions and arguments that add up to Locke's classical liberal political philosophy. Not every claim Locke makes within political philosophy fits comfortably within the classical liberal paradigm. Nor was every policy stance Locke took consistent with the abstract principles of his political doctrine. Nevertheless, the picture found in this book of Locke as the fountainhead of classical liberal political thinking both captures the essence of Locke as a normative political theorist and reveals a good deal of the character and plausibility of the classical liberal vision.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics

61 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Connor Weyant]

John Locke was cooking with this one not gonna lie

[Q Cash]

I had typed a pretty good review and the app crashed. I am going through all that again. A decent audiobook that I listened to on 1.75x speed. It is also part of the essential scholars series that I have been listening to. I knew a good bit about John Locke before listening to this book, but it was a good refresher. Nothing really new jumped out from it.

[Jim Ecock]

Concise Way to Learn About Locke

I liked the book. It was concise way to learn about Locke. The author helped to explain his thoughts and raised some interesting questions on some of his opinions. Although concise, it was clear that Locke contributed mightily to Americas Declaration of Independence and underpins our democracy.

[Dan Johnson]

Interesting overview - some assessment conclusions came across as unsupported opinion but not overly disqualifying. Would have liked more quotes directly from the souce works.

[Nathan]

So concise and agreeable

[KaytElisabet]

Whether you’re new to Locke or revisiting his work, this audiobook is a fantastic way to grasp the essentials. Highly recommended for philosophy lovers and curious minds alike.