Liberty, Toleration and Equality: John Locke, Jonas Proast and the Letters Concerning Toleration by John Tate

Author:John Tate [Tate, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: European, Political Ideologies, Political Science, World, General
ISBN: 9781317236313
Google: cLJTDAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 30536687
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-06-10T00:00:00+00:00

The “Three Considerations”

Like the “truth argument”, Locke’s “consent argument” for toleration is categorically distinct from the “rationality argument”. This is because, in confining the magistrate’s jurisdiction to “civil” matters, the “consent argument” excludes from that jurisdiction any concern, on the part of the magistrate, with the inculcation of “sincere” and “genuine” religious belief – a concern which, we have seen, lies at the heart of the “rationality argument”. In this respect, by excluding the very condition which the “rationality argument” presupposes for its existence, we can see that the “consent argument” is not only categorically distinct from the “rationality argument”, but also inconsistent with it.

Further, we can see how different, in other respects, is the “consent argument” from both the “truth” and “rationality” arguments. Far from being premised on the need for individuals to ensure their eternal salvation (“truth argument”) or the fact that governments possess “means” insufficient to achieve their ends (“rationality argument”), the “consent argument” is premised on the normative right of individuals to obey only that government authority to which they or their predecessors have given their consent.63 Individual liberty therefore lies at the foundations of the “consent argument”, as does the equal right of individuals to this liberty, as expressed in their equal entitlement to withhold or bestow consent.64 In this respect, the “consent argument” upholds premise (iii), and is a normative as distinct from a practical argument for toleration.

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