A FEMINIST CRITIC OF LOCKE POLITICAL-THEORY

The recent feminist discussion about women's position in the ''Two Treatises of Government'' has led to different interpretations of the Lockean theory. While some female political theorists see Lockean theoretical system as characterised by ''surprisingly'' feminist tendencies, others attack its ''sexist attitudes '' towards women, which finally led to the exclusion of females from the active political participation in classical liberal thinking. The main purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical framework of the feminist debate, based on Locke's occasional statements about women. And to demonstrate how the exclusion of women from political participation cam be explained, in spite of the fact, that women are treated as equal beings in Locke's state of nature.