Locke and Religion
Volume 5 of Studi Lockiani (2024), edited by Diego Lucci
Call for articles to be published in Studi Lockiani: Ricerche sull’età moderna, vol. 5, year 2024. The Journal publishes articles, notes, discussions and reviews written in English, Italian or French.
In relatively recent years, a number of studies have contributed to the rediscovery and reassessment of the religious dimension of Locke’s thought, with particular regard to the impact of his theological ideas on his epistemology and political theory. Locke’s religious interests and views, although expressed extensively in his later writings on religion, indeed pervade his philosophical production. Thus, Locke’s oeuvre in its different areas is the work of a Christian philosopher. Locke’s Christian worldview significantly influenced his views on issues such as the scope and limits of natural reason and knowledge, personal identity, moral accountability, the foundations of the law of nature and natural rights, and religious toleration. However, Locke’s religious ideas are important for yet another reason, in that his theological investigation, although indebted to his familiarity with several Christian theologies, resulted in an original, heterodox, unique version of Protestant Christianity grounded in his historical-critical analysis of the biblical text. Moreover, Locke’s religion, which emerges from his public as well as private writings, can be considered as internally coherent, regarding at least its main tenets, although he expounded his theological ideas unsystematically, given also his dislike of systems of doctrine and his hostility to claims of religious orthodoxy. For these reasons, Locke’s distinctive version of Christianity, which informed his philosophical and political thought and also shaped, in many respects, his consideration of other philosophical and religious traditions, is one of the most thought-provoking elements of his intellectual legacy and still deserves further examination.
The 2024 volume of Studi Lockiani aims at publishing contributions that deal with different aspects of Locke’s involvement with religion, including his own theological ideas on subjects such as God’s existence, scriptural authority, miracles, faith, salvation, resurrection, the afterlife, the soul, Christ, the Trinity, etc.; his relationship with heterodox Protestant currents such as Socinianism, Arminianism, Unitarianism, etc.; his criticism of different religious, or irreligious, traditions, ideas, and attitudes, such as non-Christian religions, Catholicism, atheism, deism, enthusiasm, predestination, antinomianism, etc.; the impact of his religious views on various elements of his philosophical, moral, and political thought; his theory of religious toleration, with a focus on its theological elements; his controversies with critics of his religious views such as Jonas Proast, John Edwards, Edward Stillingfleet, and others; the reception of his theological ideas among contemporaries, philosophers and theologians of later times, as well as historians; and his impact on Protestant movements such as Methodism, Baptism, Evangelicalism, etc.
Abstracts consisting of 500-800 words shall be submitted by April 30, 2023. Please use “Abstract, [your name]” as the subject of your email. In the text of the email, please include 1) the title of your paper, 2) your institutional affiliation, and 3) your preferred email contact address. Please exclude any identifying information from the abstract itself. Notifications of acceptance of the paper proposals will be sent out by May 31, 2023. Papers shall then be submitted by December 31, 2023. Papers can be written in English (preferably), Italian, or French. The Journal normally accepts articles no longer than 12,000 words, inclusive of footnotes and bibliography. However, longer submissions are considered in exceptional cases.
The Journal also publishes notes and discussions consisting of no more than 5,000 words and reviews of no more than 1,000 words.
For further details, including article guidelines and instructions on how to submit, please check the Submissions page.
For any questions about submitting a paper, please feel free to contact the editorial team via email at: studilockiani@gmail.com
Submission deadline for paper proposals including a 500-800-word abstract: April 30, 2023
Notifications of acceptance of paper proposals: May 31, 2023
Paper submission deadline: December 31, 2023
SUBMISSION EMAIL: studilockiani@gmail.com
Confirmed contributors: Mark Boespflug, Nicholas Jolley, Paul Lambdin, Daniel Layman, Diego Lucci, Victor Nuovo, Samuel Rickless, Nathan Rockwood, Raffaele Russo, Luisa Simonutti, Elisabeth Thorsson, Anita van der Bos, Shelley Weinberg
