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“Men Being Partial to Themselves”: Human Selfishness in Locke's Two Treatises

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

Greg Forster  and
Kim Ian Parker
Greg Forster*
Affiliation:
Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice
Kim Ian Parker*
Affiliation:
Memorial University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Greg Forster, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Indianapolis, IN 46282. E-mail: greg_forster@hotmail.com; Kim Ian Parker, Department of Religious Studies, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, A1C 5S7, Canada. E-mail: kparker@mun.ca
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Greg Forster, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Indianapolis, IN 46282. E-mail: greg_forster@hotmail.com; Kim Ian Parker, Department of Religious Studies, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, A1C 5S7, Canada. E-mail: kparker@mun.ca
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Abstract

Conventional wisdom describes Locke as an “optimist” about human nature; some scholars go further and say that he denied the Christian view that human beings are naturally sinful. But Locke's works, including the Two Treatises, clearly and firmly hold that human nature has a consistent tendency to desire selfishness and evil. Locke's view of the origin of human sinfulness is unorthodox – he dissents from the traditional doctrine of “original sin” – but on the question of whether human nature is in fact sinful his views are perfectly orthodox, and are in harmony with the Calvinism of the Church of England in his time. Understanding this is crucial to grasping the fundamental problem of the Two Treaties, which is the need to cope with humanity's selfishness. Locke argues that the persistent moral corruption of human nature is the primary reason government exists.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , August 2008 , pp. 169 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2008

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