Most people who've sat through a high school civics class know the name John Locke. You probably remember the "Life, Liberty, and Property" bit or the idea of the Social Contract. But honestly, most of that comes from his Second Treatise. There's this massive, dense, and often aggressive book that comes before it. It’s the First Treatise of Government, and it’s essentially a 17th-century "diss track" aimed at a guy named Sir Robert Filmer.
It’s weirdly overlooked. If you walk into a university bookstore, you’ll see the Two Treatises sold as a single volume, but most students just skip the first hundred pages. That’s a mistake. Without the First Treatise of Government, the foundations of modern democracy kind of fall apart. Locke didn't just wake up and decide people had rights; he had to systematically destroy the then-popular idea that Kings were literally chosen by God to rule like fathers over children.
The Man Locke Hated: Sir Robert Filmer
To understand why Locke wrote this, you have to meet his nemesis. Sir Robert Filmer wrote a book called Patriarcha. Filmer wasn't some fringe lunatic; he was the intellectual heavyweight for the "Divine Right of Kings" crowd. His argument was pretty simple, actually. He claimed that God gave the entire world to Adam (the first man). Since Adam was the first "king," that power passed down to his eldest sons, eventually landing in the laps of the monarchs of the 1600s.
Locke thought this was total nonsense. He spent the entirety of the First Treatise of Government tearing Filmer’s logic into tiny pieces.
Locke’s tone here isn't polite. He's sarcastic. He's biting. He basically points out that if Filmer is right, there’s only one true heir to Adam on the entire planet, and every other king is a total fraud. It was a high-stakes intellectual gamble because questioning the King's origin was bordering on treason back then.
💡 You might also like: Air Pollution Index Delhi: What Most People Get Wrong
How Locke Used the Bible to Defeat a Religious Argument
Since Filmer used Genesis to justify absolute monarchy, Locke decided to beat him at his own game. He didn't argue from a secular perspective—at least not yet. Instead, he did a deep dive into scripture.
One of the funniest parts of the First Treatise of Government is where Locke dissects the idea of "Fatherly Power." Filmer argued that because a father has power over his kids, a king has power over his subjects. Locke’s rebuttal? He points out that the Bible says "Honor thy father and thy mother." If the power is shared with the mother, then it’s not an absolute, singular monarchical power. It’s a small detail, but it effectively broke the backbone of Filmer’s "Patriarchal" system.
He also goes on about the concept of property. Filmer claimed Adam owned the world. Locke argues that God gave the world to mankind in common. This is a massive shift in thinking. If the world belongs to everyone, no one man can claim he was born with a crown on his head just because of his family tree.
Why the First Treatise of Government is Usually Ignored
If you’ve ever tried to read it, you know it's a slog. It’s a "polemic." That means it’s a specific argument against a specific person who has been dead for centuries.
📖 Related: Why Trump's West Point Speech Still Matters Years Later
Because we don't live in a world where people seriously argue that the King is Adam's great-great-great-grandson, the book feels dated. The Second Treatise deals with universal themes: what is a state? Why do we have laws? The First Treatise of Government is more like watching a lawyer argue a very specific, very old court case.
But here’s the thing: you can’t have the "Second" without the "First." Locke needed to clear the intellectual rubble before he could build the house of modern liberalism. He had to prove that we aren't "born slaves" to a master.
The Core Arguments You Actually Need to Know
Locke hits several key points that still echo today, even if we don't realize where they came from:
- No Natural Subjection: Humans aren't born naturally inferior to a ruler.
- The Problem of Succession: Locke points out that even if Adam had royal power, no one knows who his heir is now. Is it the King of England? The King of France? A random guy in a tavern? Without a clear line, Filmer's theory is useless for actual governance.
- Divine Right is a Trap: If you believe power comes from God alone, you have no way to complain when a King becomes a tyrant. You’re just supposed to sit there and take it. Locke found that unacceptable.
Locke was writing during a time of massive upheaval. The English Civil War was a fresh memory. People were literally losing their heads over who should run the country. By writing the First Treatise of Government, Locke was providing the intellectual cover for a revolution. He was telling the people, "You aren't breaking God's law by wanting a say in your government. You're actually following the natural order."
👉 See also: Johnny Somali AI Deepfake: What Really Happened in South Korea
A Surprising Fact About Locke’s Secrecy
Locke was terrified. He didn't put his name on the Two Treatises for years. He actually watched friends get executed for similar writings. He lived in exile in Holland for a while, staying in the shadows. When he finally returned to England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, he still didn't immediately claim the work. He was a cautious man. He knew how dangerous these ideas were.
The First Treatise of Government was a wrecking ball. It wasn't meant to be "inspirational" or "uplifting." It was meant to destroy a specific, dangerous ideology that kept people in chains.
Lessons for Today
So, what do we do with this? We aren't fighting Robert Filmer anymore. But the First Treatise of Government teaches us something vital about how to argue. Locke didn't just ignore his opponent. He read his opponent's book, understood it better than the author did, and used the author’s own logic to defeat him.
It’s a masterclass in critical thinking. It reminds us that every political system is built on a set of assumptions. If those assumptions are wrong—if they’re based on bad history or bad logic—the whole system is illegitimate.
Actionable Insights for the Modern Reader
If you're interested in political philosophy or just want to understand why our world looks the way it does, don't just read the "Greatest Hits."
- Read the First Treatise alongside the Second. Seeing the "destruction" phase before the "construction" phase makes the Second Treatise much more powerful.
- Look for modern "Filmers." Today, people still claim authority based on "the way things have always been" or "natural orders" that don't actually exist. Use Locke’s method: ask for the evidence of that authority.
- Check out Peter Laslett’s edition. If you're going to dive in, get a version with good footnotes. Laslett is basically the gold standard for Locke scholarship; he’ll help you decode all the weird 17th-century insults Locke throws at Filmer.
- Trace the influence. Look at the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was basically a Locke fanboy. When you read "all men are created equal," you're reading the final result of the argument Locke started in the First Treatise.
Locke’s work is a reminder that liberty isn't just a feeling. It's an argument. And it's an argument that had to be won with logic, sweat, and a fair amount of snark.