Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'John Locke'

June 19, 2020

Seattle’s CHOP/CHAZ violates the purpose of government

The mayor and civil authorities took no action as protesters claimed a six-block section of downtown Seattle as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. By their indifference and complicity, political leaders have failed into carry out the most primary functions and duties for which government is established. Continue Reading...
April 24, 2020

A free-market agenda for rebuilding from the coronavirus

On June 18, 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill steeled his people for the Battle of Britain with a stirring speech in the House of Commons that concluded: “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’” Continue Reading...
October 17, 2018

The Spanish tradition of freedom in the 16th and 17th centuries

The following article is written by Angel Fernández Álvarez and translated by Joshua Gregor. This October 31, I will give a conference entitled The Spanish School of the XVI and XVII Centuries at Harvard University, in order to explain in detail the “institutional framework” and the principles of growth upheld by the late Spanish scholastics. Continue Reading...
August 29, 2016

John Locke: ‘Father of Liberalism’

On this day in 1632, one of the greatest champions of liberty and  someone often referred to as the “Father of Liberalism,” John Locke, was born.  Although Locke’s philosophy played a crucial role in the American founding, there is still much that we can learn from his writings today.  Continue Reading...
July 04, 2016

Natural rights and social duties

“Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought.” – Lord Acton Today, people across the United States will march in parades, set off fireworks, and don red, white, and blue to huge family cookouts, all in celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Continue Reading...
December 06, 2013

How John Locke Influenced Catholic Social Teaching

Joe Hargrave argues that John Locke and Pope Leo XIII have more in common than you might imagine: It isn’t often that John Locke is mentioned in discussions of Catholic social teaching, unless it is to set him up as an example of all that the Church supposedly rejects. Continue Reading...
October 29, 2012

Tracing the Logic of Liberalism

In the Western world there are conservative liberals, liberal liberals, and radical liberals, says David T. Koyzis, but all adhere to the basic principles of liberalism: The liberalism of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Continue Reading...