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Two Treatises of Government is a work of political philosophy published anonymously in 1689 by John Locke. The First Treatise is a scathing criticism of patriarchalism and presents a forceful refutation of Robert Filmer's Patriarcha. Locke proceeds by contesting Filmer's proofs from Scripture and ridicules them as senseless, concluding that no government can be justified by an appeal to the divine right of kings.The Second Treatise describes Locke's ideas for a more civilized society based on natural rights and contract theory. Locke begins by describing the state of nature, much more stable than Thomas Hobbes' state of and ldquo;war of every man against every man, and rdquo; and argues that all men are created equal in the state of nature by God. Then he explains the hypothetical rise of property and civilization, in the process saying that the only legitimate governments are those that have the consent of the people.