About the lecture

In this module, we think about the development of liberalism in the 17th and 18th centuries, focusing in particular on: (i) Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and the concept of negative liberty; (ii) John Locke (1632-1704) and the concepts of natural rights, religious tolerance, and limited government; and (iii) the work of Olympe de Gouges (1748-93) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) on the right of women specifically.

About the lecturer

Jeremy Jennings is Professor of Political Theory at King's College, London. His research focuses upon the history of political thought in France. He is presently finishing a book provisionally entitled Travels with Tocqueville and is acting as co-editor of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of French Thought. A larger, long-term project is to write a history of the concept of liberty.