John Locke

John Locke was an English philosopher and physician who is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment. His work on knowledge, on government, and on toleration shaped the political philosophy of the modern world.

Early Life and Education

Locke was born in 1632 in Wrington, Somerset, the son of a lawyer and parliamentary soldier. He was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford.

He studied medicine and became the physician and adviser to Anthony Ashley Cooper, later the first Earl of Shaftesbury. He held several government posts and was involved in the colonial administration of Carolina.

He was forced into exile in the Netherlands after the fall of Shaftesbury. He returned to England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

The Essay, published in 1690, is his major work of epistemology. It rejected the doctrine of innate ideas and argued that the mind is a blank slate at birth.

All knowledge derives from experience, either from sensation or from reflection. Simple ideas are combined by the mind into complex ideas.

The work examined the nature of substance, of identity, and of language. It laid the foundation of the empiricist tradition in British philosophy.

Political Theory

The Two Treatises of Government, published in 1690, are a defence of limited government and of the right of resistance. The First Treatise attacks the doctrine of the divine right of kings.

The Second Treatise develops the theory of natural rights and of the social contract. Locke argued that men are born free and equal in the state of nature.

Government is established by consent for the protection of life, liberty, and property. When it violates the trust, the people have the right to dissolve it.

Toleration and Education

The Letter Concerning Toleration argued for the separation of church and state and for freedom of conscience. Locke restricted toleration to those who accepted the civil order, excluding Catholics and atheists.

Some Thoughts Concerning Education set out a programme of practical and moral education. The work influenced educational practice and the theory of child development.

He also wrote on economics and on the nature of money. He was a member of the Board of Trade and Plantations and was involved in the reform of the currency.

Influence

Locke's political ideas influenced the American and French revolutions. The Declaration of Independence draws on his theory of natural rights.

His epistemology shaped the empiricist tradition and was criticised by Kant and by the rationalists. His theory of the mind as a blank slate influenced the development of psychology.

He died in 1704 at Oates, in Essex. He is remembered as the founder of philosophical liberalism and as a central figure of the Enlightenment.

The Theory of Property

Locke argued that property originates in the labour that a person expends on the natural world. The mixing of labour with nature establishes a right of ownership.

The right is limited by the requirement that the owner leave enough and as good for others. The proviso has been much discussed in political theory.

He also argued that the use of money allows the accumulation of wealth beyond the immediate needs of the owner. The theory has been used to defend private property and free exchange.

The Theory of Knowledge

The Essay was a sustained analysis of the origin and limits of knowledge. Locke distinguished the primary qualities of bodies, which belong to the things themselves, from the secondary qualities, which are the powers to produce sensations in us.

He argued that we have no knowledge of the real essence of substances. The position is a form of corpuscularianism and anticipates the outlook of modern science.

He also analysed the nature of language and argued that the meaning of words is determined by the ideas that they signify. The analysis influenced the development of semantics.

Toleration

The Letter Concerning Toleration argued for the separation of the church and the state. The civil magistrate is concerned with the peace and the property of the community; the church is concerned with the salvation of souls.

Locke excluded Catholics and atheists from toleration, on the grounds that their allegiance was to a foreign power or that they could not be trusted to keep their oaths. The exclusion has been criticised and explained in terms of the politics of his time.

The essay influenced the American and French declarations of rights. The principle of religious toleration is one of the foundations of the liberal state.

Economics and Politics

Locke wrote on the reform of the coinage and on the market value of money. He argued that the value of money is determined by the quantity and the demand.

He was involved in the drafting of the constitution for the colony of Carolina. He also held official posts in the Board of Trade and Plantations.

His political theory was used to justify the Glorious Revolution and the right of the people to resist tyranny. The Two Treatises were published after the revolution to which they contributed.

See also

• Liberalism
• Social contract