...John Locke - Biography John Locke (1632-1704) John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in Warington, a village in Somerset, England. In 1646 he went to Westminster school, and in 1652 to Christ Church in Oxford. In 1659 he was elected to a senior studentship, and tutored at the college for a number of years. Still, contrary to the curriculum, he complained that he would rather be studying Descartes than Aristotle. In 1666 he declined an offer of preferment, although he thought at one time of taking up clerical work. In 1668 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1674 he finally graduated as a bachelor of medicine. In 1675 he was appointed to a medical studentship at the college. He owned a home in Oxford until 1684, until his studentship was taken from him by royal mandate. Locke's mentor was Robert Boyle, the leader of the Oxford scientific group. Boyle's mechanical philosophy saw the world as reducible to matter in motion. Locke learned about atomism and took the terms "primary and secondary qualities" from Boyle. Both Boyle and Locke, along with Newton, were members of the English Royal Society. Locke became friends with Newton in 1688 after he had studied Newton's Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis. It was Locke's work with the Oxford scientists that gave him a critical perspective when reading Descartes. Locke admired Descartes as an alternative to the Aristotelianism dominant at Oxford. Descartes' "way of ideas" was a major influence on Locke's...
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...of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson strengthened his beliefs through personal studies and deep examination of European history. Many history books will tell that the contributing factors that formed Thomas Jefferson’s ideas of the identity of America were linked to events such as the Reformation, the Renaissance, and the British Country party. However, one man’s works continually surfaced in Jefferson’s political and even private writings. John Locke, a British Enlightenment philosopher, was repeatedly referenced in documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Notes on the State of Virginia, and the Summary View of the Rights of British America. Jefferson repeatedly used Locke’s concepts as would even sometimes use the exact same phrases. This would make Thomas Jefferson, the first ever American to plagiarize! The irony in this is that America was just now forming its own personality, one separate from Britain, but the concepts and beliefs that helped form that identity were partly coming from a long dead British man. John Locke’s influence over Thomas Jefferson’s outlook on forming a government is undeniable...
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...John Locke's contributions in Philosophy and political views are followed and practiced even to this day. Locke’s ideas influenced religion, economics, political change, theories of knowledge and the human understanding that led to governmental and social improvements. John Locke believed in political reform. John Locke is one of the most influential authors and political philosophers in history. His ideas and views have influenced such momentous commodity such as the American constitution. Many of Locke’s ideas were used in the creation of the United States Constitution. John Locke was a British philosopher and medical researcher. Locke was born to Agnes Keene and John Locke on August 29, 1632, in Somerset, England. His father was a Puritan lawyer, who served as a Captain during the English civil war. Locke’s schooling began at Westminster School in 1647. He earned the title of King’s Scholar, which prepared him for the next phase of his education at the Christ Church in Oxford in 1652. He studied literature, physical science, medicine, politics, and natural philosophy. In 1656 he continued for his Master of Arts degree. In 1665 at Oxford, Locke encountered Lord Ashley, a notable statesman looking for medical treatment. After a friendship formed, Ashley invited Locke to join him in London as his personal physician. Locke agreed and left for London in 1667, where he lived for the next eight years. This was the beginning of Locke’s deep political interests, which was...
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...Haitian revolutions. John was a philosopher. (someone who thinks a lot about how people think). John Locke has influenced many other leaders too such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. John got his power by being a philosopher. He got a very good education because of his dad having connections to the government. And that is what got him where he was at the time. The way that he used his power was maybe the most central idea in Locke's political way of thinking...
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...The theory of innateness is a philosophical idea that was developed to explain how human beings have certain ideas that lead to knowledge. However, in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke claims that there is not satisfactory evidence to support this theory. In the first book of the Essay, Locke’s motive is to challenge the general assumption that the human mind innately possesses the basic truths thought necessary for the possibility of knowledge. Contrary to the widely held belief of innateness, Locke makes the argument that knowledge is derived from empirical experience. In An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke presents a systematic case against innate knowledge, and argues for the doctrine that sense...
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...John Locke made the most influence on the world compared to Machiavelli. Machiavelli and John Locke both had about the same effect on the world even though they were different ideas. Niccolo Machiavelli had amazing ideas and taking power and politics. Even though Niccolo wrote his book in the 14th century his ideas are used all the time in todays day. Many rulers and politicians use his book as a guide on how to rule. Niccolo wrote the prince because he wanted to show people how ruling shouldn’t be. John Locke did the “Two Treatises of Civil Government”, an essay concerning human understanding, and “The Social Contract.” The “Two Treatises of Civil Government” are essays that showed the ideas of personal government, and democratic nations. The essays laid out a basic outline for our governments today. An essay concerning human understanding laid out a lot of ideas about the country. It talked about how “every man is his equal.”(Locke) “The Social Contract” talked about have an equal relationship between government and the people....
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...John Locke And His Writing Research Paper By: Brianna Lewis Honors English III Ms. Laroche March 28-2015 John Locke was an influential English philosopher during the enlightenment age. John Locke was born August 29 1632 in wrington Somerset England. His parents were puritan which lead him to grown up in a puritan household. His father was a country lawyer who also served in the military, which lead him to have the best of education. He attended Westminster school in London in 1647 then he attended Christ church in Oxford. He had trouble following the curriculum that was being taught to him which lead him to wonder off and stray into modern philosophy instead of the original curriculum he was suppose to learn. One of his friends that were taking medicine introduced him to it then he found his newfound passion. He begins living though just his mind. He was the very first person back then to identify them though consciousness. He then went to university of Oxford and study medicine and lectured on Greek, moral and rhetoric, which lead to a lot of his writing and his outlook on political disputes. Locke became friends with English statesman Anthony Cooper, Shaftesbury who was his adviser and physician. He became a very influential English philosopher with his writing topics being political philosophy, epistemology and also education. He founded the school of empiricism. Locke's Theory of empiricism emphasized the importance of experience...
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...The Key to Locke Born in 1632, John Locke is known as one of the most famous philosophers from the 17th century. Not only known as an esteemed philosopher, Locke was also a physician and political theorists. Locke believed in “The Enlightenment,” which is the theory that reason is more important than faith and science is more important than religion. Perhaps one of Locke’s most famous works was An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. In this essay, Locke began to analyze the human mind and how we acquire knowledge. Within this essay, Locke established the “Tabula Rasa” theory or “blank slate” theory, which is that every human is a “white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas.” (Locke 1). Published in 1690, “this paper considers...
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...John Locke, Thomas More, and Thomas Hobbes were all political philosophers of their time. Thomas More, would be the least of a philosopher out of the three. Thomas More, a respected statesmen and prominent political figure and advisor to Henry VIII, was best known for authoring Utopia which depicts the social, religious, and political customs of a fictional island and attempts to define an ideal society. More’s Utopia portrays a humanist ideal world, where there is freedom and harmony between individuals and Sovereign themselves. The difficulty with Utopia is that it does not consider actual human behavior patterns. A society can accept the idea of perfect society, there is no need for “thank you” or “I’m sorry” in a society that runs on perfection and generosity runs like a spectacular waterfall. The problem is that Utopia wouldn’t work, a society would become susceptible to negative behavior, once one individual abuses the generosity of others, others will see the advantage and start to follow...
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...philosophers who defined optimism and pessimism. II. Focus on the Thesis Statement: Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two leading political theorists throughout the seventeenth century who had two different perspectives on life. In Formulations website, Gordon Diem testifies Hobbes as the recognized author of "Leviathan," and Locke as the popular writer of "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding." III. Connect with the Audience: Everyone in the world has their own philosophies and outlooks on life; you might even have your own. IV. Preview of Main Points: a. Preview Point 1: Hobbe’s and Locke’s life before they became well known philosophers. b. Preview Point 2: Their opinions on the appearances of man. c. Preview Point 3: The natural characteristics people have within themselves. d. Preview Point 4: How all men are uniform in nature. Transition: I will begin by informing you about their opinions on the appearance of man. Body I. Main Point 1: A glimpse into the early life of certain individuals can momentously affect how one would evaluate the future and the people surrounding them. a. Sub Point 1: As a child, Thomas Hobbes took care of himself and his younger brother without the involvement of his parents. On the other hand, John Locke’s parents supported him and they helped him succeed in his schoolwork. Locke earned his bachelor’s degree in 1656 and his master’s degree in 1658, yet Hobbes completed his bachelor’s degree...
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...Notes: John Locke, 1632-1704, Essay on Human Understanding • a British philosopher • Oxford academic and medical researcher • his association with Anthony Ashley Cooper (later the First Earl of Shaftesbury) led him to become o a government official charged with collecting information about trade and colonies, o An economic writer, opposition political activist, and o finally a revolutionary whose cause ultimately triumphed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. • Much of his work is characterized by opposition to authoritarianism. • This opposition is both on the level of the individual person and on the level of institutions such as government and church. • Locke's monumental An Essay Concerning Human Understanding concerns itself with determining the limits of human understanding in respect to God, the self, natural kinds and artifacts, as well as a variety of different kinds of ideas. • It thus tells us in some detail what one can legitimately claim to know and what one cannot. • Locke also wrote a variety of important political, religious and educational works including the Two Treatises of Government, the Letters Concerning Toleration, The Reasonableness of Christianity and Some Thoughts Concerning Education. Essay on Human Understanding • Locke is often classified as the first of the great English empiricists (ignoring the claims of Bacon and Hobbes). • This reputation rests on An Essay Concerning...
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...Locke’s argument against innate ideas. In Locke’s ‘An Essay Concerning Human Understanding’, he argues for his view of empiricism, concerning the origin of ideas. A conflicting position for this subject is rationalism. According to rationalists, ideas are innate. However, Locke was an empiricist and believed that ideas came from experience. In this essay I aim to explore Locke’s position on the formation of ideas and consider how his arguments may be criticised or indeed supported. According to Locke, an idea is “the object of the understanding when a man thinks” (I.i.8). In his ‘Essay’, Locke argues against the notion that ideas are innate in humans. He argued that ideas were formed from sensory experience rather than being innate. By innate, we mean that we were born with the ideas. Locke mentions the argument for innate ideas being that there are universally accepted ideas, so they must be already present in people when they are born. In the ‘Essay’, Locke said that the existence of innate ideas could be disproved if another way was found in which all mankind could come to agree on a certain truth. I think there is a weakness in this argument. In order for his point to be relevant, he would need to find this truth that is universally accepted and prove that it was born from experience. Therefore, the argument that innate ideas are responsible for universal truths is the best explanation that can be given. Although Locke’s argument does not have a lot to justify it...
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...John Locke looked at the world to gain knowledge and wrote books to show the empiricism in philosophy. John Locke wrote many books and essays to show his beliefs and views. John Locke’s A letter Concerning Toleration with the concerning the true extant and end of civil government was written in 1689 in Gouda, Holland. His beliefs and views shaped the world as it is today. John Locke start off his essay with writing about political power. He states, “Political power, then, I take to be a right of making laws, with penalties of death, and consequently all less penalties for the regulating and preserving of property,” John Locke defines political power as the right to make certain laws to protect and regulate property. These laws are put...
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...think it is necessary to be, I concluded that I might take, as a general rule, the principle, that all the things which we very clearly and distinctly conceive are true..."[1][2] While reading Descartes, Locke began to relish the great ideas of philosophy and the scientific method. On one occasion, while in a meeting with friends, the question of the "limits of human understanding" arose. He spent almost twenty years of his life on the subject until the publication of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, a great chapter in the History of Philosophy.[3] John Locke's chapter XXVII "On Identity and Diversity" in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) has been said to be one of the first modern conceptualizations of consciousness as the repeated self-identification of oneself, through which moral responsibility could be attributed to the subject—and therefore punishment and guiltiness justified, as critics such as Nietzschewould point out, affirming "...the psychology of conscience is not 'the voice of God in man'; it is the instinct of cruelty ... expressed, for the first time, as one of the oldest and most indispensable elements in the foundation of culture."[4][5][6] John Locke does not use the terms self-awareness or self-consciousness though.[7] According to Locke, personal identity (the self) "depends on consciousness, not on substance" nor on the soul. We are the same person to the extent that we are conscious of our past and future thoughts and actions in the same...
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...History of Psychology Danielle Shank PSY/310 February 18, 2013 Kelle Daniels History of Psychology To understand psychology today, one must understand the past of psychology. Rene’ Descartes believes a person’s mind to have an ability to reason and the body to be a machine. However, John Locke believed a person’s mind to be a clean slate and it is filled from experiences. These are two amazing theories about the mind and body. However, if all of the theories were to be discussed this would not be an essay; this would be a book series. Psychology dates back to the 1900’s but the true history goes back to the Greek philosophers or even farther to the 17th century B.C. with Psamtik 1 (King of Egypt). He believed the Egyptians were the oldest race and was curious about how. The foundation of psychology starts with philosophy and medicine than later becomes its own category of psychology. Psychology gets broken down into smaller parts. This paper will go over different philosophers of the past that brought the start of psychology and then a man who was in the 19th century of psychology. Philosophers That Began Psychology Hermann Ebbinghaus states in his textbook called “Psychology An Elementary textbook”, “Psychology has a long past, yet its real history is very short” (Ebbinghaus, 1908, p. 3). When this statement is broken...
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