| Locke and the Legislative Point of View: Toleration, Contested Principles, and the Law Subjects: Locke John 1632–1704 -- Contributions in political science; Locke John 1632–1704 -- Contributions in natural law; Political ethics; Legislative ethics; Legislative power; Determining which moral principles should guide political action is a vexing question in political theory. This is especially true when faced with the "toleration paradox": believing that something is morally wrong but also believing that it is wrong to suppress it. In this book, Alex Tuckness argues that John Locke's potential contribution to this debate--what Tuckness terms the "legislative point of view"--has long been obscured by overemphasis on his doctrine of consent. Building on a line of reasoning Locke made explicit in his later writings on religious toleration, Tuckness explores the idea that we should act politically only on those moral principles that a reasonable legislator would endorse; someone, that is, who would avoid enacting measures that could be self-defeating when applied by fallible human beings. Alex Tuckness is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University. |