Publication

The First Treatise is an extended attack on Sir Robert Filmer's 'Patriarcha' in which he undercuts the Scriptural support that Filmer had offered for his thesis, and argues that the acceptance of Filmer's thesis can lead only to absurdity. In the Second Treatise, Locke develops a number of notable themes. It begins with a depiction of the state of nature and also covers conquest and slavery, property, representative government, and the right of revolution.