Two Treatises of Government

Recommended edition: Locke, John. Two Treatises of Government. Edited by Peter Laslett. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Excerpt: 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… More

A Letter Concerning Toleration

Recommended edition: Locke, John. A Letter Concerning Toleration. Edited by James Tully. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983.

Excerpt: I think indeed there is no nation under heaven, in which so much has already been said upon that subject, as ours. But yet certainly there is no people that stand in more need of having something further both said and done amongst them, in this point, than we do.Our government… More

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Recommended edition: Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Edited by Peter H. Nidditch. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975.

Excerpt: Since it is the understanding, that sets man above the rest of sensible beings, and gives him all the advantage and dominion, which he has over them; it is certainly a subject, even for its nobleness, worth our labour to inquire into. The understanding, like the eye, whilst it… More

Some Thoughts Concerning Education

Recommended edition: Locke, John. Some Thoughts Concerning Education. Edited by Ruth Grant and Nathan Tarcov. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1996.

Excerpt: I myself have been consulted of late by so many, who profess themselves at a loss how to breed their children; and the early corruption of youth is now become so general a complaint; that he cannot be thought wholly impertinent, who brings the consideration of this matter on the… More