Locke and the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina: Version of 1698. Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina (1698), Trans. by Yakovlev, Anatoly A.

Authors

  • Anatoly A. Yakovlev Independent scholar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21146/0042-8744-2025-2-116-127

Keywords:

John Locke, Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, Board of Trade, slavery, absolute power, prerogative, arbitrary power

Abstract

John Locke assures us that all mankind in natural state is free and equal, and that absolute arbitrary power of one person over another contradicts the principles of Civil Society. Yet Locke is the author (or one of the authors) of the Funda­mental Constitutions of Carolina declaring absolute power over black slaves which is not congruent to Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. The last version of the Fundamental Constitutions (1698), written not before, but after Two Trea­tises (1689) cannot be explained away by the evolution of philosopher’s views. And what we have here is not a contradiction in his thought, but an example of civil servant’s consistent manner of behaviour and thought. The article also encloses Russian translation of the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina in its 1698th version.

Published

2025-02-03

Issue

No. 2 (2025)

Section

History of Philosophy

How to Cite

[1]
2025. Locke and the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina: Version of 1698. Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina (1698), Trans. by Yakovlev, Anatoly A. Voprosy Filosofii. 2 (Feb. 2025), 116–127. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21146/0042-8744-2025-2-116-127.