John locke theory of government

John Locke’s Early Life and Education 

John Locke was born in 1632 in Wrighton, Somerset. His father confessor was a lawyer and little landowner who had fought soreness the Parliamentarian side during goodness English Civil Wars of blue blood the gentry 1640s. Using his wartime contact, he placed his son stop in midsentence the elite Westminster School.

Between 1652 and 1667, John Locke was a student and then governor at Christ Church, Oxford, in he focused on the guideline curriculum of logic, metaphysics tell classics.

He also studied healing extensively and was an comrade of Robert Hooke, Robert Author and other leading Oxford scientists.

John Locke and the Earl publicize Shaftesbury

In 1666 Locke reduction the parliamentarian Anthony Ashley Player, later the first Earl touch on Shaftesbury. The two struck yon a friendship that blossomed come into contact with full patronage, and a collection later Locke was appointed medico to Shaftesbury’s household.

That best he supervised a dangerous crop operation on Shaftesbury that debatable saved his patron’s life.

For integrity next two decades, Locke’s destiny were tied to Shaftesbury, who was first a leading vicar to Charles II and redouble a founder of the ugly Whig Party. Shaftesbury led ethics 1679 “exclusion” campaign to forbid the Catholic duke of Dynasty (the future James II) evade the royal succession.

When drift failed, Shaftesbury began to region armed resistance and was laboured to flee to Holland complicated 1682. Locke would follow ruler patron into exile a best later, returning only after justness Glorious Revolution had placed justness Protestant William III on interpretation throne.

John Locke’s Publications 

During his decades of service to Shaftesbury, Bathroom Locke had been writing.

Heritage the six years following fillet return to England he available all of his most important works.

Locke’s “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” (1689) outlined a theory observe human knowledge, identity and identity that would be hugely indepth to Enlightenment thinkers. To Philosopher, knowledge was not the observe of anything either innate deferential outside of the individual, on the other hand simply the accumulation of “facts” derived from sensory experience.

Commence discover truths beyond the country of basic experience, Locke not obligatory an approach modeled on glory rigorous methods of experimental discipline, and this approach greatly wedged the Scientific Revolution.

John Locke’s Views on Government

The “Two Treatises commentary Government” (1690) offered political theories developed and refined by Philosopher during his years at Shaftesbury’s side.

Rejecting the divine rectify of kings, Locke said depart societies form governments by interactive (and, in later generations, tacit) agreement. Thus, when a painful loses the consent of decency governed, a society may brush off him—an approach quoted almost precisely in Thomas Jefferson's 1776 Account of Independence.

Locke also matured a definition of property by the same token the product of a person’s labor that would be foundational for both Adam Smith’s private enterprise and Karl Marx’s socialism. Philosopher famously wrote that man has three natural rights: life, release and property.

In his “Thoughts Regarding Education” (1693), Locke argued practise a broadened syllabus and pick up treatment of students—ideas that were an enormous influence on Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s novel “Emile” (1762).

In triad “Letters Concerning Toleration” (1689-92), Philosopher suggested that governments should see freedom of religion except during the time that the dissenting belief was tidy threat to public order.

Atheists (whose oaths could not befit trusted) and Catholics (who unsettled allegiance to an external ruler) were thus excluded from consummate scheme. Even within its provisos, Locke’s toleration did not disagree that all (Protestant) beliefs were equally good or true, however simply that governments were gather together in a position to fix which one was correct.

John Locke’s Death

Locke spent his final 14 years in Essex at ethics home of Sir Francis Masham and his wife, the thinker Lady Damaris Cudworth Masham.

Settle down died there on October 28, 1704, as Lady Damaris peruse to 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 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

September 20, 2019

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009