What characterizes modern political thought is the rejection of the bona vita as a guide to political action. Men either lack such a thing as a natural vocation or at least they disagree about what such a vocation consists in. This makes it necessary to rethink politics, to begin with men as they are and to arrange things in order that those who are divided about the issue of what constitutes the good life will nevertheless live together in peace.
Philippe Beneton, The Languages of the Rights of Man
The essay doesn't present anything terribly new, but it is a quite concise political analysis of the modern predicament.
Also of interest:
True and False Tolerance, also by Beneton
Catholic Social Thought and the American Regime from Gary D. Glenn of the excellent Society of Catholic Social Scientists. Glenn attempts to revive the old interpretation that Locke's thought had some basis in Jesuit political philosophy--albeit only in part. He also notes that Richard Filmer, of Patriarcha fame, was an enemy of the early Jesuits' political philosophy.
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