ABSTRACT
The origins of liberalism are disputed. Since Marx many have argued that liberalism had its origins in capitalism and its need for free markets in labor and private ownership and control of real capital, including the means of production. John Locke’s account of the origins of private property in self-ownership in a state of nature is regarded by many on both the left and the right as the quintessential statement of the foundations of liberalism. Liberalism is thereby conceived primarily as an economic doctrine. Rawls regards Locke as a seminal figure in the history of liberalism too, but not because of Locke’s supposed economic liberalism. Rather it is because of Locke’s affirmation that all “men” are born free and equal with certain inalienable liberties; that governments have a duty to respect these liberties and tolerate different religious confessions; and that political power is to be exercised for the common good. Rawls sees the historical origins of liberalism primarily in the European Wars of Religion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.1 They gave rise to the idea that it should not be the role of governments to enforce a particular religious confession, but that different religious views should be tolerated. The core liberal freedoms of liberty of conscience and freedom of thought developed from this historical starting point. Locke’s political writings were largely an attempt to provide a philosophical justification for a limited, constitutional government that respected religious and other liberties.
