Strauss on Locke: liberalism and the modern political turn

Abstract

The article analyzes how Strauss interprets the thought of John Locke as a modern thinker whose role was decisive for the doctrine of political liberalism. To this end, it investigates the esoteric method of reading that Strauss applies to the work of the English philosopher. It then examines Strauss’s thesis that the foundation of Locke’s political teaching is the individual right to self-preservation. The article is based on a bibliographic review of Strauss’s works and those of his commentators. It also explores criticisms and interpretations by other scholars on Locke, in order to contrast or endorse Strauss’s peculiar reading. The research concludes that, for Strauss, Locke advances an atheistic and subversive philosophy, albeit disguised in Calvinist rhetoric; and that he aligns with the modern tradition of Machiavelli and Hobbes, against classical and medieval political philosophy. In this interpretation, Locke breaks with the notion of an order of human ends according to the perfection of nature or revealed law. As a result, he shifts the aim of political order toward the ideal of comfortable individual self-preservation, whose corollary is the thesis that the end of political society is to guarantee individual rights and property. From this perspective, Locke appears as an important founder of liberalism, understood as a regime that ultimately seeks to secure and protect rights. The study aims to contribute to reflection in the field of political theory in general, and in Strauss’s thought in particular.