Letter on Toleration

by John Locke

Published 5 September 1991
John Locke's "Letter on Toleration" is one of the central texts of liberal political philosophy. Locke's defence of religious toleration and his insistence on the separate roles of church and state have been of fundamental importance in the theoretical and practical development of liberalism. This book brings together the text of the "Letter" in the original translation by William Popple and critical articles on its philosophical themes. The volume contains specially commissioned articles as well as reprints of seminal essays. The editor's introduction sets the "Letter" in the wider context of Locke's political philosophy and traces the philosophical themes which run through it. This book should be of interest to advanced students and teachers of philosophy and the history of political thought.