John Locke

John Locke
John Locke
Born	29 August 1632; Wrington,Somerset,England
Died	28 October 1704(aged 72); Essex, England
Era	17th-century philosophy; (Modern Philosophy)
Region	Western Philosophers
School	British Empiricism, Social Contract, Natural Law
Main interests	Metaphysics,Epistemology,Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind,Education
Notable ideas	Tabula rasa,"government with the consent (permission) of the governed";state of nature;rights of life,libertyandproperty
	Influences Plato,Aristotle,Avicenna,Ibn Tufail,Aquinas,Grotius,Samuel Rutherford, René Descartes, Hooker,Robert Filmer,Hobbes,Polish Brethren;
	Influenced Hume,Kant,Berkeley,Paine,Smithand many other politicalphilosophers,including the American Founding Fathers,Arthur Schopenhauer;
Signature

John Locke(pronounced/ˈlɒk/;29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704), known as theFather ofLiberalism,^[2]^[3]^[4]was anEnglish philosopherandphysician.His writings on the theory ofsocial contractinfluencedVoltaireandRousseau,manyScottish Enlightenmentthinkers, and theAmerican revolutionaries.His ideas are mentioned in theAmerican Declaration of Independence.^[5]

Locke's theories were usually aboutidentityand theself.Locke thought that we are born without thoughts, and thatknowledgeis instead determined only byexperience.^[6]

Biography

Locke's father, who was also named John Locke, was acountry lawyer.^[7]He had served as a captain in the early part of theEnglish Civil War.His mother, Agnes Keene, was atanner's daughter and was thought to be very beautiful. Both mother and father werePuritans. Locke wasbornon 29 August 1632, in acottageby the church inWrington,Somerset,about twelve miles fromBristol.He wasbaptizedwhen he was born. After that, his family soon moved toPensford.

Education

In 1647, Locke was sent toWestminster SchoolinLondon.During this time he was beingsponsoredbyAlexander Popham,a member of theParliament.After finishing his studies there, he went into the Christ Church. Although Locke was a good student, he did not like the schedule of the time spent there. He did not like theclassicalsubjects taught at the university, and wanted to learn more about modern philosophy. Through his friend Richard Lower, whom he had met at the school, Locke learned about medicine, because his friend Richard Lower taught it to him.

Locke was awarded abachelor's degreein 1656 and a master's degree in 1658. In 1666, he met Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, who had come to Oxford seeking treatment for hisliverdisease. Cooper wasimpressedwith Locke and asked him to come.

Works

Locke had been looking for a job and in 1667 moved into Shaftesbury's home at Exeter House in London, to serve as Lord Ashley's personalphysician.InLondon,Locke continued his studies on medicine.

Locke's medical knowledge was put to the test when Shaftesbury'sliver diseasebecame worse until Shaftesbury was about to die. Locke used the advice of several physicians and persuaded Shaftesbury to go to an operation. Shaftesbury lived through the operation and thanked Locke for saving his life.

Shaftesbury, as a member of theWhigmovement, was a big influence on Locke's political ideas. However, after Shaftesbury began to fall from favor in 1675, Locke decided to travel acrossFrance.He came back toEnglandin 1679. At this time, due to Shaftesbury's insistance, Locke wrote theTwo Treatises of Government.While it was once thought that Locke wrote the Treatises todefendtheGlorious Revolutionof 1688, recent scholarship has shown that the work was composed before this even started.^[8]

Move to the Netherlands

However, Locke ran away to theNetherlandsin 1683. This is because people became suspicious of him beinginvolvedin the Rye House Plot to assassinate KingCharles II of England.In the Netherlands, Locke had time to return to his writing, spending a great deal of time re-working the essay. Locke did not return home until after theGlorious Revolution.Locke came withWilliam of Orange's wife back to England in 1688.

Return to England

Locke's close friend Lady Masham invited him to join her at the Mashams' country house in Essex. Although his time there was marked by variable health fromasthma attacks,he nevertheless became an intellectual hero of the Whigs. During this period he discussed matters with such figures asJohn DrydenandIsaac Newton.

Death

He died on 28 October 1704, and is buried in the churchyard of the village ofHigh Laver,^[9]east ofHarlowinEssex,where he had lived in the household of Sir Francis Masham since 1691. Locke never married nor had children.

Events during lifetime

Events that happened during Locke's lifetime include theEnglish Restoration,theGreat Plague of Londonand theGreat Fire of London.He did not quite see theActs of Union 1707though the thrones of England and Scotland were held inpersonal unionthroughout his lifetime.Constitutional monarchyandparliamentary democracywere in their infancy during Locke's time.

Related pages

References

↑Peter Laslett (1988). "Introduction: Locke and Hobbes".Two Treatises on Government.Cambridge University Press.p.68.ISBN 9780521357302.
↑Locke, John.A Letter Concerning TolerationRoutledge, New York, 1991. p. 5 (Introduction)
↑Delaney, Tim.The march of unreason: science, democracy, and the new fundamentalismOxford University Press, New York, 2005. p. 18
↑Godwin, Kenneth et al.School choice tradeoffs: liberty, equity, and diversityUniversity of Texas Press, Austin, 2002. p. 12
↑Becker, Carl Lotus.The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political IdeasHarcourt, Brace, 1922. p. 27
↑Baird, Forrest E.; Walter Kaufmann (2008).From Plato to Derrida.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp.527–529.ISBN 978-0-13-158591-1.
↑Broad, C.D. (2000).Ethics And the History of Philosophy.UK: Routledge.ISBN 0-415-22530-2.
↑Peter Laslett, "Two Treatises of Governmentand the Revolution of 1688, "section III of Laslett's editorial" Introduction "to John Locke,Two Treatises of Government,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
↑Britannica Online,s.v. John Locke

Other websites

Works

Works by John LockeatProject Gutenberg
Links to online books by John Locke
The Works of John Locke
- 1823 Edition, 10 Volumes on PDF files, and additional resources Archived2007-08-10 at theWayback Machine
- 1824 Edition, 9 volumes in multiple formats Archived2009-05-26 at theWayback Machine
John Locke Manuscripts Archived2009-10-13 at the Portuguese Web Archive
Updated versions ofEssay Concerning Human UnderstandingandSecond Treatise of Government,edited by Jonathan Bennett
Locke,Two Treatises of Government,ed. Thomas Hollis (A. Millar et al., 1764)See original text inThe Online Library of Liberty Archived2009-06-28 at theWayback Machine

Resources

Macmillan Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Locke Archived2010-06-30 at theWayback Machine
John Locke Bibliography Archived2009-10-13 at the Portuguese Web Archive
John Locke’s Theory of Knowledgeby Caspar Hewett
The Digital Locke Project Archived2014-01-01 at theWayback Machine
Portraits of Locke Archived2008-05-24 at theWayback Machine
Locke links Archived2007-04-07 at theWayback Machine
A complex and positive answer to questionWas Locke a Liberal?Archived2009-03-26 at theWayback Machine– by Jerome Huyler
Timeline of the Life and Work of John Locke atThe Online Library of Liberty Archived2009-07-14 at theWayback Machine
Locke on Property: A Bibliographical Essay by Karen VaughnThe Online Library of Liberty.Archived2009-07-14 at theWayback Machine

[1] Peter Laslett (1988). "Introduction: Locke and Hobbes".Two Treatises on Government.Cambridge University Press.p.68.ISBN 9780521357302.

[2] Locke, John.A Letter Concerning TolerationRoutledge, New York, 1991. p. 5 (Introduction)

[3] Delaney, Tim.The march of unreason: science, democracy, and the new fundamentalismOxford University Press, New York, 2005. p. 18

[4] Godwin, Kenneth et al.School choice tradeoffs: liberty, equity, and diversityUniversity of Texas Press, Austin, 2002. p. 12

[5] Becker, Carl Lotus.The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political IdeasHarcourt, Brace, 1922. p. 27

[6] Baird, Forrest E.; Walter Kaufmann (2008).From Plato to Derrida.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp.527–529.ISBN 978-0-13-158591-1.

[7] Broad, C.D. (2000).Ethics And the History of Philosophy.UK: Routledge.ISBN 0-415-22530-2.

[8] Peter Laslett, "Two Treatises of Governmentand the Revolution of 1688, "section III of Laslett's editorial" Introduction "to John Locke,Two Treatises of Government,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

[9] Britannica Online,s.v. John Locke

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Biography

Education

Works

Move to the Netherlands

Return to England

Death

Events during lifetime

Related pages

References

Further reading

Other websites

Works

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