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Economist speaks about legacy of John Locke

American economist Charles Rowley will give a talk on "The Political and Economic Philosophy of John Locke" Wednesday as part of Calumet College’s Economics Forum.

Charles Rowley

An expert on Locke, Rowley will present an overview of the 17th-century philosopher’s political and economic ideas. Locke is famous for his ideas of governing as social contract and of the mind as a tabula rasa, or blank slate. Rowley will outline Locke's life and major scholarly publications over a turbulent period in English history following the execution of Charles I in 1649, through the dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell, the restoration of Charles II to the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

John Locke

Rowley is Duncan Black Professor of Economics at George Mason University and general director of the Locke Institute in Fairfax, Virginia. He is also senior research fellow at the university’s James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy. Author or editor of over 30 books and 150 scholarly papers, he was founding editor of The International Review of Law and Economics and has been senior editor of Public Choice since 1990.

Rowley’s lecture will take place in 214 Calumet College, 2-4pm. All members of the York community are welcome to attend.

York is also home to a collection of first-edition texts by Locke that is consulted by researchers around the world. Donated by former York professor John Yolton in 2003 (see the Nov. 14, 2005 issue of Ylife, the collection now resides in the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections in York’s Scott Library and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.