Locke, J.

Introduction

John Locke (1632–1704) was an English philosopher who made major contributions to epistemology and ontology in his monumental An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), a work often considered as laying the foundations of British empiricism. He also wrote important works on education theory and religious tolerance. However, his works most relevant to business ethics are his writings on private property and government (Locke 1988 [1690]) which developed the theories that will be discussed in this entry.

Historic Background

Locke’s views on property and government are best seen as a response to Thomas Hobbes. In his book Leviathan (Hobbes 1968[1651]) and in other writings, Hobbes began with the assumption that all people were independent agents who pursued their own interests. Their most important interest was survival. In a state of nature (i.e., in a state in which there was no government), every individual would be competing against all others for survival. Life in...