Abstract
Locke emphasized that a concern for reputation powerfully shaped the individual's conduct. Most scholarship suggests that Locke portrayed this phenomenon in negative terms. This article complicates this picture. A concern for reputation served a constructive role in Locke's theory of social development, which offered a powerful alternative explanation of the origins of moral consensus and political authority to Hobbes's. Locke nonetheless suggested that misunderstandings engendered in Christian commonwealths regarding the nature of political and religious authority had impacted negatively on the moral regulation of societies. The forces governing society, which once habituated individuals in beneficial ways, now led them astray.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 644-680 |
| Number of pages | 37 |
| Journal | History of Political Thought |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2017 |
Bibliographical note
© 2017 Ingenta. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.Keywords
- Jesus Christ; John Locke; Thomas Hobbes; atheism; civil law; conscience; divine law; law of nature; moral obligation; political obligation; sovereignty; toleration
- Sovereignty
- Atheism
- Civil law
- John Locke
- Thomas Hobbes
- Jesus Christ
- Divine law
- Law of nature
- Toleration
- Conscience
- Political obligation
- Moral obligation
