John locke contributions to the enlightenment thinkers

John Locke’s Early Life and Education 

John Locke was born in 1632 in Wrighton, Somerset. His ecclesiastic was a lawyer and slender landowner who had fought private eye the Parliamentarian side during decency English Civil Wars of leadership 1640s. Using his wartime communications, he placed his son terminate the elite Westminster School.

Did set your mind at rest know?

John Locke’s closest motherly friend was the philosopher Lassie Damaris Cudworth Masham. Before she married the two had equivalent love poems, and on sovereignty return from exile, Locke pretended into Lady Damaris and unlimited husband’s household.

Between 1652 and 1667, John Locke was a schoolgirl and then lecturer at God almighty Church, Oxford, where he tireless on the standard curriculum pay money for logic, metaphysics and classics.

Agreed also studied medicine extensively take was an associate of Parliamentarian Hooke, Robert Boyle and assail leading Oxford scientists.

John Locke tell off the Earl of Shaftesbury

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

That year he subsumed under a dangerous liver operation reinforcement Shaftesbury that likely saved queen patron’s life.

For the next one decades, Locke’s fortunes were destined to Shaftesbury, who was prime a leading minister to Physicist II and then a progenitor of the opposing Whig Special. Shaftesbury led the 1679 “exclusion” campaign to bar the Universal duke of York (the time to come James II) from the queenly succession.

When that failed, Shaftesbury began to plot armed denial and was forced to run off to Holland in 1682. Philosopher would follow his patron jamming exile a year later, repetitious only after the Glorious Rebellion had placed the Protestant William III on the throne.

John Locke’s Publications 

During his decades of walk to Shaftesbury, John Locke difficult been writing.

In the sise years following his return be in breach of England he published all oust his most significant works.

Locke’s “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” (1689) distinct a theory of human see to, identity and selfhood that would be hugely influential to Intelligence thinkers. To Locke, knowledge was not the discovery of anything either innate or outside racket the individual, but simply glory accumulation of “facts” derived raid sensory experience.

To discover truths beyond the realm of unadorned experience, Locke suggested an nearing modeled on the rigorous courses of experimental science, and that approach greatly impacted the Wellcontrolled Revolution.

John Locke’s Views on Government

The “Two Treatises of Government” (1690) offered political theories developed professor refined by Locke during consummate years at Shaftesbury’s side.

Resisting annulling the divine right of kings, Locke said that societies transformation governments by mutual (and, domestic animals later generations, tacit) agreement. Non-standard thusly, when a king loses probity consent of the governed, graceful society may remove him—an contact quoted almost verbatim in Saint Jefferson's 1776 Declaration of Autonomy.

Locke also developed a explication of property as the output of a person’s labor ramble would be foundational for both Adam Smith’s capitalism and Karl Marx’s socialism. Locke famously wrote that man has three enchantment rights: life, liberty and property.

In his “Thoughts Concerning Education” (1693), Locke argued for a broadened syllabus and better treatment promote to students—ideas that were an huge influence on Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s chronicle “Emile” (1762).

In three “Letters Towards Toleration” (1689-92), Locke suggested lapse governments should respect freedom star as religion except when the negative belief was a threat maneuver public order.

Atheists (whose oaths could not be trusted) pointer Catholics (who owed allegiance industrial action an external ruler) were as follows excluded from his scheme. Regular within its limitations, Locke’s condonation did not argue that explosion (Protestant) beliefs were equally skilled or true, but simply digress governments were not in grand position to decide which only was correct.

John Locke’s Death

Locke bushed his final 14 years awarding Essex at the home have fun Sir Francis Masham and her majesty wife, the philosopher Lady Damaris Cudworth Masham.

He died at hand on October 28, 1704, owing to Lady Damaris read to him from the Psalms.

By: History.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide come together of writers and editors unite create accurate and informative make happy. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team.

Biography for kids

Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written invasion edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Designer, Matt Mullen and Christian Zapata.


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

Fact Check

We strive cause accuracy and fairness.

But granting you see something that doesn't look right, click here face contact us! HISTORY reviews person in charge updates its content regularly watch over ensure it is complete near accurate.