John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher, considered one of the main thinkers of empiricism. Empiricism is a current of thought that admits that all knowledge is gained only through experience.
Locke was also an advocate of liberal individualism and the division of the state into three powers.
Index
- Who was John Locke?
- John Locke's Philosophy
- The Policy according to John Locke
- Major Works by John Locke
Who was John Locke?
Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in the village of Wrington, England. His father, in addition to a small landowner, was a court clerk and served as a cavalry captain in the parliamentary army.
As a child he attended Westminster School. In 1652, at age 20, he entered Christ Church College, one of the largest constituent colleges of Oxford University, one of the most respected in the world. In addition to being a student, he was a professor at this educational institution, teaching Rhetoric, Greek and Philosophy.
Initially, in 1656, he graduated from Arts. Later, still at Oxford, he studied Medicine, Natural Sciences and Philosophy. Two years later he entered the scientific academy of the Royal Society of London.
His interest in philosophy increased, so he came into contact with the work of important philosophers, who came to influence him, such as Francis Bacon, René Descartes and Thomas Hobbes.
In 1683 he was accused of treason for his involvement with his mentor, Lord Ashley Cooper, who was accused of plotting the death of King Charles II. So he had to flee to Holland, where he stayed until 1688, at the end of the Glorious Revolution.
Already back, he published his first works: Essay on human understanding and Letters on tolerance.
John Locke died aged 72 on October 28, 1704 in Harlow, England. He was not married and had no children either.
John Locke's Philosophy
Locke is considered one of the most important philosophers of empiricism. According to this thinking, knowledge is gained through experiences, rather than just deductions. That is, it is science based on observation of the world, rejecting also explanations based on faith.
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Locke claimed that at birth, people's minds are like a “blank slate” or a “clean slate” and only from experiences are ideas formed. Also according to him, this experience can be either external, and therefore related to sensations, or internal, arising from reflections.
This view therefore excludes the idea of having universal knowledge, since the process is different for each person, as all experiences are unique.
However, according to Locke's thoughts, the mind is not considered just a passive receiver, it is responsible for processing all experiences, transforming them into knowledge and shaping the personality.
Another important idea, closely related to the previous one, is that all human beings are born good and society is responsible for corrupting them.
The Policy according to John Locke
Regarding Politics, Locke was known for criticizing the theory of the divine right of kings, defended by the French bishop and theologian, Jacques Bossuet. In other words, for him, sovereignty should be popular and not concentrated in the hands of the State, as it was at that time.
However, he admitted the supremacy of the State, but defended that it should respect natural law and civil law.
In the work “Two Treatises on Civil Government” he contests, in addition to the divine right of kings, absolutism and authoritarianism in general.
Like Montesquieu, he was a strong advocate of dividing the state into three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. Taking into account the ideas exposed above, Locke defended that the other powers should be subordinated to the Legislative, which for representing the people, was considered the most important.
In addition, he defended the separation of State and Church, giving space, then, to religious freedom. Because of this, it was strongly contested by the Catholic Church.
He made important contributions to liberalism by proposing ideas that distinguished the public and the private and that these should be regulated by different laws. According to his thesis, political power should not be determined by birth conditions.
In his works, he also dealt with free property and free economic initiative in a non-interventionist state, basic characteristics of liberalism.
Major Works by John Locke
- Letters on Tolerance (1689)
- Two Treatises on Government (1689)
- Essay on Human Understanding (1690)
- Thoughts on Education (1693)
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