On today’s episode, Ari spoke with political philosopher Yechiel Leiter about John Locke—the thinker whose work undergirds all of American political philosophy. If you were to read Locke, one of the first things you’ll notice is that he quotes and relies upon texts from the Hebrew Bible far more than (almost to the exclusion of) any other. And yet, for centuries, Locke scholars have almost entirely ignored his Hebraic influences. Together, Ari and Yechiel discussed how a Hebraic reading of Locke is crucial for explaining all of the most interesting and even revolutionary elements of Locke’s thought.

Good Faith Effort is a production of Bnai Zion and SoulShop.