Between Divine and Human Sovereignty: The State of Nature and the Basis of Locke's Political Thought

Abstract

John Locke's political philosophy teaches us that we must reconcile ourselves to a human condition between divine and human sovereignty involving neither complete subjection to nor complete dominion over the natural order. This article traces that teaching to Locke's account of the state of nature and argues that it forms the basis of a genuinely rationalist liberal political philosophy attentive to both the extent and the limits of human choice and self-creation.