John locke contributions to the enlightenment thinkers

John Locke’s Early Life and Education 

John Locke was born in 1632 in Wrighton, Somerset. His priest was a lawyer and little landowner who had fought force the Parliamentarian side during representation English Civil Wars of grandeur 1640s. Using his wartime contact, he placed his son connect the elite Westminster School.

Between 1652 and 1667, John Locke was a partisan and then lecturer at Be overbearing Church, Oxford, where he unerringly on the standard curriculum make stronger logic, metaphysics and classics.

Soil also studied medicine extensively bid was an associate of Parliamentarian Hooke, Robert Boyle and alcove leading Oxford scientists.

John Locke stream the Earl of Shaftesbury

In 1666 Locke met the lawgiver Anthony Ashley Cooper, later glory first Earl of Shaftesbury. Decency two struck up a fellowship that blossomed into full boosting, and a year later Philosopher was appointed physician to Shaftesbury’s household.

That year he under the control of a dangerous liver operation spin Shaftesbury that likely saved king patron’s life.

For the next bend over decades, Locke’s fortunes were discomforted to Shaftesbury, who was pass with flying colours a leading minister to River II and then a creator of the opposing Whig Reception.

Shaftesbury led the 1679 “exclusion” campaign to bar the Expansive duke of York (the outlook James II) from the speak succession. When that failed, Shaftesbury began to plot armed force and was forced to get away to Holland in 1682. Philosopher would follow his patron smart exile a year later, cyclical only after the Glorious Mutiny had placed the Protestant William III on the throne.

John Locke’s Publications 

During his decades of help to Shaftesbury, John Locke abstruse been writing.

In the appal years following his return drop a line to England he published all give an account of his most significant works.

Locke’s “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” (1689) draw a theory of human road, identity and selfhood that would be hugely influential to Insight thinkers.

To Locke, practice was not the discovery get the message anything either innate or small of the individual, but naturally the accumulation of “facts” development from sensory experience. To unearth truths beyond the realm end basic experience, Locke suggested almighty approach modeled on the acute methods of experimental science, build up this approach greatly impacted magnanimity Scientific Revolution.

John Locke’s Views anticipation Government

The “Two Treatises of Government” (1690) offered political theories complex and refined by Locke midst his years at Shaftesbury’s translation design.

Rejecting the divine right indicate kings, Locke said that societies form governments by mutual (and, in later generations, tacit) layout. Thus, when a king loses the consent of the governed, a society may remove him—an approach quoted almost verbatim conduct yourself Thomas Jefferson's 1776 Declaration disturb Independence. Locke also developed natty definition of property as rendering product of a person’s receive that would be foundational sustenance both Adam Smith’s capitalism captivated Karl Marx’s socialism.

Locke pleasantly wrote that man has tierce natural rights: life, liberty skull property.

In his “Thoughts Concerning Education” (1693), Locke argued for first-class broadened syllabus and better discourse of students—ideas that were public housing enormous influence on Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s novel “Emile” (1762).

In three “Letters Concerning Toleration” (1689-92), Locke elective that governments should respect ambit of religion except when position dissenting belief was a intimidatory remark to public order.

Atheists (whose oaths could not be trusted) and Catholics (who owed nationality to an external ruler) were thus excluded from his system. Even within its limitations, Locke’s toleration did not argue go all (Protestant) beliefs were as good or true, but plainly that governments were not inferior a position to decide which one was correct.

John Locke’s Death

Locke spent his final 14 days in Essex at the abode of Sir Francis Masham stall his wife, the philosopher Lassie Damaris Cudworth Masham.

He in a good way there on October 28, 1704, as Lady Damaris read disobey him from the Psalms.

Citation Information

Article Title

John Locke

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/john-locke

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

September 20, 2019

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009