The Life and Works of John Locke

Locke Influenced Regular Philosophers and Revolutionaries

Oct 26, 2009

The ideas of John Locke can be found in the United States Declaration of Independence as well as in the modern political views of government.

John Locke was an English Philosopher who is best known for his contributions to philosophy as the founder of the empiricist school of thought.

Life and Career of Philosopher John Locke

Locke was born in the village of Wrington, Somerset, on August 29, 1632. He was educated at the University of Oxford and afterward lectured on moral philosophy, rhetoric and Greek from 1661 to 1664. Locke became more influential in English society because of his association with Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shatesbury. During this time a series of minor government appointments was given to Locke which included writing a proprietor's constitution for the Carolina Colony, though it was never fully realized.

Because the England Favored Roman Catholicism at the time, he came to Holland where he lived from 1683 to 1688. Following the 'Glorious Revolution' in 1688, Protestantism was once again accepted in England, and so Locke returned. He was appointed to the Board of Trade in 1696, but he ultimately resigned due to poor health. He died in Oates on October, 28, 1704.

John Locke's Political Philosophy

John Locke's importance as a political philosopher is largely due to his Two Treatises of Government (1690). The authors of the Declaration of Independence and the US constitution paraphrased Locke's thoughts in many of their writings. The treatises attacked the divine right and sovereignty of kings while emphasizing that it was with the people that the real sovereignty resided. A political state, he theorized, emerged from a social contract among the people, who consent to government in order to preserve their lives and property. In the words of the Declaration of Independence, the government derives "their just powers from the consent of the governed."

What does Locke say the people should do if the government abuses its power? He says, "If he government had absolute arbitrary power with its potential to do harm to an individual exercising it in a despotic way, individuals could and should resist since they are obligated to preserve themselves." Locke states that if a power comes into conflict with the Fundamental Law of Nature, which is the "preservation of mankind," the people have the right to overturn it.

Locke also tried to lessen fears that giving people too much power in their government would lead to disorder. He assured others that people would not revolt against the government "till the inconvenience is so great that the majority feel it and are weary of it and find it necessary to amend."

Locke's Other Contributions to Philosophy

In addition to his contributions to politics and ethics, Locke elaborated on the thoughts of Francis Bacon that gave more meaning to the school of Empiricism. He emphasized that it was more important to pursue knowledge through the senses than deduction or intuitive speculation. His Essay Concerning Human Understanding deals largely with his ideas about Empiricism.

Locke regarded the mind of a person at birth as a tabula rasa, a blank slate upon which experience imprints knowledge. He did not believe in intuition or theories of innate concepts; that we are born with ideas of how things should be a priori.

Locke's contribution to political theories that shaped out own government should not be underestimated. His contributions to philosophy and politics go without question. John Locke continues to be one of the most controversial and interesting philosophers of the modern era.

Allen Jayne, Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1998), 47.

The copyright of the article The Life and Works of John Locke in Western Philosophy is owned by Phillip Burghgraef. Permission to republish The Life and Works of John Locke in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.