Literary Studies

FICTION 345 of personal consciousness, expressed through the rhythms and idiom of spoken language and of the languages that are not spoken. For her the end of writing is not to playa role, but to tell the truth, the truth that is not 'in' but must be sought for in the creative act, and which can bind people together. She does not experiment with themes, moods, or forms for the pleasure of experimenting. Through the years she has developed a craft which, when the material of a new novel presses in upon her and must be written, is there. The form appropriate for the matter works itself out under the pressure of the creating. (GoRDON ROPER) LITERARY STUDIES Locke's political theory is clearly uppermost in the minds of most of the thirteen contributors to the collection edited by John W. Yolton and entitled John Locke: Problems and Perspectives (A Collection of New Essays) (Cambridge University Press, vii, 278, $8.95). That so much attention is paid to this particular aspect of Locke's work is rather ironic if One considers the actual historical situation. The Two Treatises on Civil Government was largely ignored at the time of its publication and throughout the eighteenth century. It was not regarded as being especially original and failed in its day to achieve anything like the eminence of the writings of Grotius or Pufendorf. Hume, for one, believed Locke's political theory to be not only theoretically incoherent but practically dangerous as well. It should come as nO surprise, therefore, that for a very long time the reputation of the Two Treatises trailed far behind that of Locke's major philosophical work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Of the topics on political theory that appear in this volume, the doctrine of natural law receives the most attention. Several of the contributors attempt to formulate a consistent theory from the apparently conflicting points of view expressed in the Two Treatises On the one hand, and the Essay on the other. Is the 'rationalistic' doctrine of the former compatible with the 'empiricism' of the latter? There is general agreement here that it is. Practical considerations having to do with experiencing pleasure and pain guide man to the discovery of those moral rules that find expression in the law of nature. As it would appear from such an account, the law of nature must itself have the status of any other item of knowledge. For Locke, knowledge of it is acquired by 346 LETTERS IN CANADA means of the natural faculties that man has and the widely-held notion that it is presented as innate in the Two Treatises must therefore be rejected. Another closely related point, stressed by several of the contributors, is that moral and political obligations are for Locke essentially linked to belief in God. The law of nature would be ineffectual without divine rewards and punishments-in addition to terrestrial-and the skilled estimation on the part of the believer of his own long-range interests. It follows that Locke was merely being consistent with his own principles when he assured Stillinglleet that he would 'condemn and quit' any of his opinions shown to be 'contrary to any revelation in the Holy Scripture.' There is general agreement among the essayists also that the source of a large part of the difficulty in correctly interpreting Locke is to be found in his own careless way of writing, but that still more must be attributed to the deplorable state of the text. Few authors of such repute have fared so badly. Professor Aarsleff pleads for an up-to-date edition of the entire works, an undertaking that he estimates might well require thirty-five years or more. The volume is of special interest to those who wish to familiarize themselves with the present state of Lockean scholarship and who would like to avoid a number of rather widespread misunderstandings and misinterpretations of this most important philosopher. (W.]. HUGGETT) Professor E.D. LeMire has included in the appendices of The Unpublished Lectures of William Morris (Wayne State University Press; Copp Clark, 331, $9.95), a calendar of Morris's speeches from 1877 to 1896 and...