The First Treatise of Government

John Locke’s First Treatise of Government argues against the divine right of kings to rule and in support of mankind’s natural freedom. Locke combined the First Treatise with his Second Treatise of Government and then published them together as Two Treatises of Government in 1689. While Second Treatise builds Locke’s case for natural rights and the compact theory of government-by-consent, First Treatise offers a direct response to Sir Robert Filmer, seventeenth-century England’s most influential advocate for the Divine Right of Kings theory. In First Treatise, Locke analyzes excerpts from Filmer’s famous Patriarcha (1680), as well as Observations Concerning the Originall of Government, Etc. (1652), one of Filmer’s lesser-known publications. Locke concludes that, contrary to Filmer’s claims, the divine right of kings has no foundation in the Old Testament, that monarchical authority is not derived from fatherly authority, and that man is naturally born free.

This guide refers to the 1764 edition of Two Treatises, wherein First Treatise appears on pages 1-191.

Summary

First Treatise is best understood from two perspectives. First, it is a timeless contribution to political philosophy.