Two Tracts on Government
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Two Tracts on Government by John Locke is a work of political philosophy written from 1660 to 1662, in the early Restoration era following the collapse of the rule by Parliament and the Protectorate of the Interregnum. It remained unpublished until 1967, 263 years following the death of Locke in 1704. It bears a similar name to a later, more famous, political philosophy work by Locke, Two Treatises of Government published in 1689/90. The two works, however, have very different positions. Unlike the Treatises, the Tracts support authoritarian policies in matters of religious worship, and it was largely written as a refutation to Edward Bagshaw's ideas advocating religious toleration. Later in life, Locke espoused liberal and anti-authoritarian views.