Locke Among the Radicals

Liberty and Property in the Nineteenth Century

Daniel Layman

Represents the first sustained philosophical engagement with Thomas Hodgskin and John Bray, and one of only a few with Lysander Spooner and Henry George
Provides a blueprint for healing the economic injustices of today's world, which so closely resembles the nineteenth century's industrial revolution
Shows how rightwing and leftwing interpretations of Lockeanism developed during the nineteenth century
Offers a new reading of Locke's property theory that connects it to the republican tradition

Locke Among the Radicals

Liberty and Property in the Nineteenth Century

Daniel Layman

Description

Capitalism in the western world is currently facing a crisis of legitimacy in the face of growing inequality. But many forget that the global, capitalist world as we know it today emerged largely during the industrial revolution. Four remarkable thinkers of the long nineteenth century, the Lockean radicals—Thomas Hodgskin, Lysander Spooner, John Bray, and Henry George—responded to the horrid and rampant economic injustices at the time by picking up the loose ends of Locke's property theory and weaving them into two competing strands. Each strand addressed problems of liberty and equality then emerging from industrial capitalism, but each did so in a different way. As Daniel Layman argues, in one camp, Hodgskin and Spooner, libertarian radicals, argued that the world of resources is common to all people only in the negative sense of being originally "unowned" by anyone. According to them, there are no just grounds for state redistribution except to correct past injustices, and governments are typically little more than thieving and oppressive gangs. In the other camp, Bray and George, egalitarian radicals, held that all people have a positive claim to share equally in the world's resources. According to them, states should ensure, through redistributive taxation and other progressive policies, that our institutions respect this common right.

Locke Among the Radicals tells the forgotten story of the Lockean radicals and the crucial role they played in addressing problems latent in Locke's theory. Layman argues persuasively that some of the radicals' insights provide a blueprint for a form of liberal distributive justice possible to achieve today.

Locke Among the Radicals

Liberty and Property in the Nineteenth Century

Daniel Layman

Locke Among the Radicals

Liberty and Property in the Nineteenth Century

Daniel Layman

Author Information

Daniel Layman, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Davidson College

Daniel Layman is assistant professor of philosophy at Davidson College. He is the co-author (with Michael Huemer) of Do Governments Have Moral Authority? (Routledge, 2021) and numerous articles, chapters, and reviews. Before Davidson, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the Political Theory Project at Brown University.

Locke Among the Radicals

Liberty and Property in the Nineteenth Century

Daniel Layman

Reviews and Awards

"In this fascinating exploration of overlooked nineteenth-century Lockean radicals, Daniel Layman discovers unexpected intellectual riches. Anyone interested in the history of political economy or the left-libertarian tradition generally should definitely read this book" - Frank Lovett, Professor of Political Science and Director of Legal Studies, Washington University in St. Louis

"John Locke's defense of natural property rights remains one of the most influential ideas in contemporary political philosophy. In tracing its odd career in the 19th century,Locke among the Radicalssheds new light on an old doctrine, and exemplifies the value of looking at philosophical questions through an historical lens." - Eric MacGilvray, Associate Professor of Political Science, Ohio State University

"This is an extremely well written, very interesting, historically and philosophically informed work on Lockean/libertarian theories of property rights. Layman's discussion of the relatively unknown work of four 19th century thinkers—Thomas Hodgskin, John Bray, Lysander Spooner, and Henry George—sheds light on contemporary issues of self-ownership, world ownership, and equality. The book will be of interest to both political philosophers/theorists and to historians of political ideas." - Peter Vallentyne, Florence G. Kline Professor of Philosophy, University of Missouri