John Locke is one of the very few heroes in the history of philosophy. He virtually created the theory of individual rights and thereby laid the intellectual basis for the founding of the United States. All the founding Fathers were thoroughly schooled in his Second Treatise of Government, and phrases from that illustrious work even appear in the Declaration of Independence.

After an introductory survey of Locke's basic philosophy, these lectures will focus on: Locke's derivation of rights; his justification of private property; his explanation of the need for government; the elements of mysticism and collectivism that remained in Lockes's theory, undercutting his achievement; and how Ayn Rand's philosophy holds the solution to the problems raised by Locke's theory.