Locke wanted to prove that the world is not a mere amalgam of violence and arbitrary authority and that there is something that separates a legitimate from an illegitimate government.
Milton argued that the state is not some quasi‐divine entity ordained by God but is instead an organization legitimized by the consent of the governed.
On Liberty is not merely a political text explaining the intricacies of how the state ought to act. It is a love letter to the individual virtues of intellectual curiosity, tolerance, and open‐mindedness.
