Two Treatises of Government

John Locke's Two Treatises of Government, originally published anonymously, is a work of political philosophy that begins by attacking patriarchalism, specifically that of Robert Filmer's Patriarcha. Having aptly refuted patriarchalism, a competing contemporary theory of his time, Locke moves on to outline an ideal theory of politics and society that responds to the political theory of Thomas Hobbes, another contemporary. Both Hobbes and Locke agree that the state of nature is one of chaos and competition; Locke moves on to outline the way in which we bring order to this state of nature through certain nature rights and contracts to each other. These essays form the body of work that contributed to Locke's status as a figure ahead among political theorists.