C. B. Macpherson (1911–1987)

Macpherson's analysis of Hobbes and Locke is quite brilliant. The middle part of the book is more uneven; I found the chapter on the Levellers a bit tedious, though still interesting both in itself as well as in this context. It gets a lot more intriguing when he writes about Harrington, a theorist I didn't know much about, and this was as great an introduction to him as I could have wished for. Macpherson goes to the root of the underlying assumptions behind the seeming inconsistencies in Hobbes, Harrington and Locke, and shows very convincingly how their theories nevertheless for the most part hold together in view of the emerging market society - and market morality - of the 17th century. --- We here go from Hobbes to Locke and back again... - As Macpherson puts it towards the end of the book: "Hobbes, as amended by Locke in the matter of the self-perpetuating sovereign... provided the main structure for English liberal theory."… (mere)