Example social and political philosophy dissertation topic 2:

Locke and the state of nature: evaluating the critics.

The 17th century philosopher John Locke noted that ‘want [lack] of a common judge, with authority, puts all persons in a state of nature’ and that ‘men living according to reason, without a common superior on earth, to judge between them, is properly the state of nature’ (1988, p. 19). This dissertation presents three different interpretations of what Locke meant by these words and through so doing not only critiques the work of Locke himself but also: Dunn, Simmons, and Strauss.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Dunn, J. (1969). The political thought of John Locke. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Simmons, A.J. (1993). On the edge of anarchy: Locke, consent, and the limits of society. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Strauss, L. (1953). Natural right and history. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.