Locke on Assent and Toleration

Abstract

John Locke is justly famous for his Epistola de Tolerantia ad Clarissimum Virum, published in English in 1689 as A Letter concerning Toleration. It is worth remembering, however, that Locke was not the first to argue for broad religious toleration. Indeed the battle had been waged in England throughout the seventeenth century on a variety of fronts and for a variety of reasons.1 The result of Locke's entering the struggle on the side of toleration may well have been decisive, however. The times were right, and his own personal efforts in addition to the arguments in his several letters for toleration were to be ultimately triumphant.2 Locke's position in behalf of toleration was the liberal one for its time, and if the arguments seem somewhat commonplace today, it is certainly because they have become so firmly established in tradition.3 However, it should be noted that, while the Locke of 1689 was a religious and political liberal who advocated fairly extensive toleration, the Locke of an earlier time was decidedly conservative. The early conservative writings on toleration, translated and edited by Philip Abrams, constitute an important addition to our contemporary understanding of Locke.4 The story of his transition from conservative to liberal on this vital question is an interesting one but one which goes beyond the limits of this discussion.5 The concern here is to show the connection between Locke's arguments for toleration and his concept