ABSTRACT
It is customary to regard Locke as the second of the three classical authorities, through whom our subject develops from its priest-ridden beginnings to its democratic goal. His work in political theory, however, is not to be compared with that of Hobbes and Rousseau, and his perennial popularity is an exact measure of the accuracy with which he reflects the muddied condition of an ordinary man who has suddenly been faced with the problem of political authority. Hobbes’ theory may be said to follow from his low and cynical view of human nature as essentially individualist. Locke’s opposed view of human nature as essentially sociable, friendly and cooperative is a natural reaction. The truth, of course, lies between the two. Some men are sociable and some are anti-social. In every man the two elements are so mixed that either may on occasion come uppermost.
