Product Description

This is the revised version of Peter Laslett’s acclaimed edition of Two Treatises of Government, which is widely recognised as one of the classic pieces of recent scholarship in the history of ideas, read and used by students of political theory throughout the world. This new edition revises Dr Laslett’s second edition (1970) and includes an updated bibliography, a guide to further reading and a fully reset and revised introduction which surveys recent advances in Locke scholarship. In the introduction, Dr Laslett shows that the Two Treatises were not a rationalisation of the events of 1688 but rather a call for a revolution yet to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22519 in Books
• Published on: 1988-10-28
• Format: Student Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Customer Reviews

This is the standard English edition of Locke's famous text
There are many cheap paperback editions of Locke's 'Two Treatises' but this has become the standard. Laslett's excellent introduction is almost a work in itself and shows how close attention to historiographical detail can completely transform the meaning of a text. The traditional view that Locke was writing in defense of the glorious Revolution of 1688 is undermined by his detailed argument that only a small portion of the book was composed after that event, and that most of it was written to defend the failed attempt to exclude the Duke of York (the future James II) from the throne. The Two Treatises themselves are well annotated by Laslett who provides much useful information. In short, if you are a student looking for copy of the Two Treatises, make sure you use this edition!