Visions of Community in the Writings of John Locke

Abstract

Liberal political theory is often accused of hindering the development of communities because it encourages people to be individualistic. As one of its founding fathers, critiques of liberalism date back to the writings of John Locke in the seventeenth century. This research project looks at the writings of Locke within their historical context. In examining Locke’s views on religious toleration, social policy and economics, this project proposes to show how Locke envisioned a particular form of community. This study also incorporates contemporary debates on liberalism. Specifically, it addresses communitarian critiques put forth by Michael Sandel and Charles Taylor, and invokes liberal defences, articulated by Will Kymlicka and Alan Buchannan. It proposes that many of today’s defences of liberal political theory can be applied to the writings of John Locke to support and sustain the development of communities within his own time. A second claim against liberal theory is that it favours particular communities instead of granting fair procedural rights to all communities. To test this objection, this project will also look at the biases from Locke’s religious, political and social backgrounds and how they impacted his beliefs.