John Locke and Modern Life

This book recovers a sense of John Locke's central role in the making of the modern world. It demonstrates that his vision of modern life was constructed on a philosophy of human freedom that is the intellectual nerve connecting the various strands of his thought. By revealing the depth and originality of Locke's critique of the metaphysical assumptions and authoritative institutions of pre-modern life, this book rejects the notion of Locke as an intellectual anachronism. Indeed, the radical core of Locke's modern project was the "democratization of mind," according to which he challenged practically every previous mode of philosophical analysis by making the autonomous individual the sole determinant of truth. It was on the basis of this new philosophical dispensation that Locke crafted a modern vision not only of government but also of the churches, the family, education, and the conduct of international relations.

Author: Lee Ward
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 08/23/2010
Pages: 326
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.20w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780521192804

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2011

About the Author
Ward, Lee: - Lee Ward is Alpha Sigma Nu Distinguished Associate Professor of Political Science in Campion College at the University of Regina. He previously taught in the Department of Political Science at Kenyon College and was the Bradley Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program in Constitutional Government at Harvard University. His research and teaching interests are the history of political philosophy and early modern and American political thought. He is the author of The Politics of Liberty in England and Revolutionary America and has written articles on John Locke, Aristotle, Plato, Montesquieu, and Algernon Sidney. His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Publius, the Journal of Moral Philosophy, the American Journal of Political Science, Ratio Juris, International Philosophical Quarterly, and Interpretation. He also co-edited with Dr Ann Ward The Ashgate Research Companion to Federalism.