The next couple of episodes continue Part I on Political Philosophy.

The next two episodes will discuss the impact philosophical ideas have had on the social and political world. In the current episode (17), I start with the influence John Locke's political philosophy had on the adoption of the English Bill of Rights in the wake of the Glorious Revolution (1688), as well as French philosophers and the American Declaration of Independence (Jefferson). Locke, the Enlightenment philosopher, is often seen as the Godfather of liberalism. His ideas laid the foundations for liberal democracies worldwide.

In the following episode (18), I look at two French philosophers around the time of the French Revolution: Voltaire and Condorcet, and describe their fights for justice. Then I turn to Human Rights and the state of democracy in the face of the rise of populism.

Literature:

The classic source of liberalism is John Locke's The Two Treatises of Government, especially Part II, first published in 1690. His Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) is also worth reading. Every good book on political philosophy will discuss Locke's ideas and his influence. Voltaire's Lettres Philosophiques (1734), his Treatise on Religious Tolerance (1763) and his Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764) are well worth perusing.They give a flavour of Enlightenment ideas.