Locke, Aristotle, and AquinasIn history tomes, many philosophers outlined their visions of a perfect society. Until recently, however, few had ventured into the waters of religious tolerance. One of these philosophers was John Locke. Writing in the late 17th century, Locke advocated a complete separation of church and state. He advocated unprecedented tolerance towards people of all faiths. Although Locke's views became widely popular throughout Europe and the Americas, they did not meet with unanimous approval. Many previous philosophers disagreed with Locke. Two of these philosophers were Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas disagreed on three key issues: constraint, tolerance, and authority. Aristotle, on the other hand, disagreed on a more fundamental issue: the very goal of politics. This essay aims to elucidate Locke's arguments and thus explain Aristotle's and Aquinas's potential objections to Locke's Letter on Toleration. In A Letter Concerning Toleration, Locke discusses the issue of civil toleration. Its main premise is that society is constituted simply to procure, preserve, and promote civil interests. Defines civil interest as: Life, liberty, health and indolence of the boy; and the possession of external things, such as money, lands, houses, furniture, and the like.1 Having explained civil interests in terms of material goods, Locke argues that the only concern of the judiciary should be the violation of these civil interests. The Judiciary must enforce these rights through sanctions, or with the threat of deprivation of the aforementioned rights. But since no individual would willingly give up these liberties, the Magist... at the center of the paper... said to the States of America; 1983Baumgarth, William P and Richard J Regan [eds]. D'Aquinas, Saint Thomas. On law, morality and politics. Hackett Publishing Company, United States of America; 1988Note1 Tully, James H.[ed.] Locke, John. A letter on tolerance. P. 262 Ibid. P. 273 An obvious reference to Arab Muslims, who Europeans considered "pagans" and "infidels". This term is generally considered offensive by most Muslims.4 Baumgarth, William P and Richard J Regan [eds.]. D'Aquinas, Saint Thomas. On law, morality and politics. P. 2505 Ibid. P. 250 (with emphasis added)6 Ibid. P. 2517 Ibid. P. 255 (emphasis added)8 Tully, James H.[ed.] Locke, John. A letter on tolerance. P. 469 Ibid. P. 4710 Lord, Carnes [trans.] Aristotle, Politics. P.9911 Ibid. P. 98