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Articles on John Locke

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Nothing demonstrates our reliance on each other like a highly contagious disease. Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

COVID-19 upended Americans’ sense of individualism and invited us to embrace interconnectedness – an idea from Greek philosopher Epicurus

A British literature scholar explains how philosopher John Locke’s theory of selfhood will not help the pandemic recovery, if individuals fail to see themselves as interconnected.
President Donald Trump at the Tulsa campaign rally, where he said he had slowed down COVID-19 testing to keep the numbers low. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Leaders like Trump fail if they cannot speak the truth and earn trust

The absence of trust in a nation’s leader and government jeopardizes an effective response to a health crisis. It also creates a political crisis, a loss of faith in democracy.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to the White House on May 13, 2019. Strongmen like Orbán are increasingly gaining ground as the death knell sounds for liberal democracy. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Are we witnessing the death of liberal democracy?

Liberal democracy is in trouble, and the seeds of its demise can be found in the property rights so cherished by so-called liberals generations ago.
Coalition Avenir Québec leader François Legault on the campaign trail last September before the election that saw his party form a majority government.

In Québec, Christian liberalism becomes the religious authority

The language of the neutral and secular state in Bill 21, like its precursors, presumes an invisible Christian default for the rules around public expressions of religiosity.
What can philosophers tell you about paying taxes? RomanR/Shutterstock.com

Do you have a moral duty to pay taxes?

Many Americans are fretting over paying their taxes. A philosopher says the moral question isn’t as much about a duty toward the government, but being fair to fellow tax-paying citizens.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, accompanied by his wife, speaks during a news conference. AP Photo/Steve Helber

Should we judge people for their past moral failings?

A philosopher argues that moral responsibility for past transgressions can actually change over time. The test lies in how deeply an individual has changed.
The #MeToo movement and more recent allegations against Brett Kavanaugh have posed questions about past conduct. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

How should we judge people for their past moral failings?

Whether the sins of our past stay with us forever has become a pertinent question of our time. A philosopher argues we don’t need to carry our past burdens – although there are some moral conditions.
Members of various militia groups met in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. One dressed as a Continental army officer. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

The Bundys think they are preserving democracy by occupying Oregon’s Malheur refuge, but they are undermining it

The notion of civil rebellion – like the one at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge – is at the heart of the Second Amendment. But so is the idea that such rebellions should not be undertaken lightly.

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