JOHN LOCKE: BIOGRAPHY, PHILOSOPHY, WORKS AND CONTRIBUTIONS - HISTORY - 2024

John Locke (1632-1704) was an English physician and philosopher considered the father of empiricism and political liberalism, and one of the most influential thinkers of the European Enlightenment and of the United States Constitution. His work also influenced the development of epistemology, political philosophy, religious tolerance, and the theory of the social contract.

He achieved his fame through his Philosophical Essays, which served as the basis for liberal political thought and inspiration for the Constitution of the United States. He was also very critical of the educational system of the time where corporal punishment was rife.

Portrait of John Locke

He worked as a doctor for the Earl of Shaftesbury, where his interest in politics began, laying down fundamental principles such as that all men are born with natural rights that the State must protect.

Biography

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in the town of Wrington, located in the county of Somerset, in England.

Locke's family was not characterized by being wealthy; in fact, Locke was born in a small house with a precarious thatched roof that was close to the village church.

Family

John's father bore the same name, served as a Chew Magna justice of the peace staff and was a rural attorney. He participated in the English civil war, especially in the first part, when he was a cavalry captain of the followers of the English Parliament in that contest.

John's mother was named Agnes Keene, and both she and her father were followers of Puritanism, a doctrine that considered God to be the force that was superimposed on everything that exists in the world, including of course the questions of human beings.

After John was born, his parents moved with him to a market area in Pensford, which was also in Somerset County. There they lived in a rural house that was in the town of Belluton.

Studies

Locke's first academic training was in London, at the Westminster School, to which he acceded thanks to the contribution of the English politician Alexander Popham, who had been the head of John's father and who belonged to Parliament.

John's second school was Christ Church, Oxford, which he attended after finishing his studies at Westminster School. While here he had several criticisms in relation to the study program. In his view, these programs were out of date.

John considered that there were many other modern authors of the time, such as Descartes, who had much deeper and more timely content than the authors framed in the classical field that was dictated in the university. At the time, the vice-rector of the Christ Church was the theologian and puritan John Owen.

Locke was close friends with the English physician Richard Lower from his time at Westminster School. Through him he became interested in medicine as well as experimental philosophy, fields that had wide application both in other houses of study and in the Royal Society of London for the Advancement of Natural Science.

John Locke obtained his bachelor's degree in 1656 and two years later, in 1658, he also obtained a master's degree. In this era Locke taught Greek as well as rhetoric.

Throughout this period Locke was quite interested in medicine. He even worked at Oxford with scientists such as the physician Thomas Willis, the physicist, chemist, and natural philosopher Robert Boyle, and the scientist Robert Hooke.

Relationship with Anthony Cooper

In 1964 he obtained a medical degree and in 1666 he was presented to the person who years later would be the first Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper. This man came to Oxford in some desperation, trying to find someone who could treat a liver infection.

Cooper was delighted with Locke, so much so that he even suggested that he be part of his entourage. A year later, in 1667, Locke moved to Cooper's home, where he was his personal physician. His new home was located at Exeter House in London.

Being in this context, Locke began to feel attracted towards the world of the policy; This interest really encompassed the entire public sphere.

This motivation went hand in hand with Locke's constant medical training, because while he was in London he sought to continue his studies in medicine, this time at the hand of the English doctor Thomas Sydenham, who turned out to be a great influence in the field of natural philosophy.

Deadly test

During the period in which Locke lived in Cooper's house, the latter presented a serious complication of the infection in the liver that he had long ago.

The situation forced Locke to convene a board of doctors to discuss solutions to the problem, eventually proposing to Cooper that he undergo a life-threatening operation, which at the same time was the only chance to save his life.

It was a risky proposition and Cooper ended up agreeing to undergo the proposed operation. After performing the surgical procedure, Cooper survived the process and the operation was successful. This led to the nobleman considering John Locke as the person who saved his life.

Public life

In the years around 1670 John Locke served as personal secretary to the Carolina Lords; while he exercised these functions, he was one of those who helped shape the notions of these characters in relation to the economy and trade in the international arena.

In addition, Locke was also secretary of the Board of Trade and Plantations. His political ideas were widely influenced by Cooper, who was one of the creators of the Liberal Party of England.

In 1672 Cooper was appointed Lord Chancellor, and from this time Locke became even more involved in politics. Three years later, in 1675, Cooper's popularity declined considerably, and as a result Locke took time to travel around France, during which time he served as a medical assistant and tutor to politician Caleb Banks.

Two years later, in 1967, Locke returned to England, once Cooper's notoriety improved somewhat, and he continued to work alongside him.

Opposition

John Locke carried out various activities openly opposed to the authorities in force at that time.

An example of this were the Two Treatises on Civil Government, in which Locke strongly criticized patriarchalism as a doctrine and monarchy as an absolute character, while proposing the social contract and natural rights as the bases of ideal civil and political society..

Stay in the Netherlands

Political reasons led John Locke to flee to the Netherlands in 1683. Among these reasons stand out the evident confrontation that he sustained with the authorities and the system of the time, as well as his link to a plan through which he intended to assassinate King Charles II along with his brother named Jacobo.

John Locke's involvement in this plan was never proven; however, Locke decided to take refuge in the Netherlands.

Return from exile

While in the Netherlands he continued with his literary production and with the conformation of his ideas and postulates.

In 1688 King James was overthrown thanks to the so-called Glorious Revolution or Revolution of 1688, in which the followers of Parliament joined the first Dutch authority, William of Orange, to defeat the king.

At that time Locke returned to England, accompanied by Orange's wife. At the end of his time in exile, he devoted himself to writing most of all his published works.

Around this time he also had greater contact with Damaris Masham, who became one of the first English philosophers, and was a very close friend of Locke.

Masham invited Locke to his country house, where discussions took place with prominent figures of the time, such as the physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton, as well as the English writer John Dryden.

In the midst of this context, John Locke became one of the most prominent and leading thinkers related to the doctrine of English liberalism.

Death

John Locke passed away on October 28, 1704, when he was 72 years old; he left no widow or children. Since 1691 he had lived in the house of Francis Masham, in Essex, so he was buried there, in a cemetery located in High Laver.

He himself had written his epitaph:

Philosophy

Freedom

According to John Locke, human beings are not subject to the designs of nature, but are free. In this context he refers to the state of nature, which he describes as that innate power of man to decide on the elements he needs to achieve well-being.

The human being can decide on these aspects, since he is endowed with the necessary rationality to reflect on it and draw the conclusions that he considers most appropriate.

Thanks to this rationality, human beings can generate the set of rules that guide their dynamics in the world. These rules Locke called laws of nature or laws of reason.

Locke indicates that man enjoys this freedom without being diminished by the action of another human being. For him only God has more authority than man, which results in a conception of independence that does not admit domination.

God

For Locke it is not necessary to prove the existence of God, as it is simply a fact that responds to the evidences of the universe and the morality of men.

For this reason, Locke does not conceive that he is trying to explain the existence of God; that is to say, that a deductive approach towards God is carried out. Therefore, the law of nature that he proposes is also linked to the figure of God.

Consent and contract

The concept of consent is linked to the idea that human beings cannot be dominated or in a state of subjection, unless they accept it. According to Locke, all human beings can decide whether to apply some kind of dominance figure to themselves.

In this way, man renounces his behavior under the law of nature and submits to this subjection. All this process occurs by the absolute will of the individuals and is totally valid.

This conception is directly linked to the notion of politics. Locke states that an individual can declare himself subject to an idea or power of a political nature.

For this to work, there must be other individuals who are also subject to this idea, so that together the so-called political society or civil society is generated.

As a consequence of this scenario, what Locke called the contract is generated, through which political society is constituted, while determining the political regime to which the first will be subject.

Theory of Ideas

Locke develops and defends the theory that the mind is a blank page. In it, external information is recorded through the senses, in addition to that generated by the activity of the mind.

He calls this "reflection", rejecting the thought that knowledge of God, morality or the laws of logic are innate in the human mind. Locke said:

"Words in their primary or immediate meaning do not represent anything, but the Ideas in the Mind of the one who uses them."

It states that the source of all knowledge is sensory experience and that ideas are divided into simple and complex. Analyzing complex ideas, also called concepts, became an important topic in philosophy.

Plays

Locke published numerous works during his life. Among all his publications, there are three that stand out for their great theoretical value and the significance they had. Below we will describe the most relevant characteristics of these books:

Letter on tolerance

This work was published in 1689 and was released anonymously. The publication includes a compilation of different letters written by Locke, in which he talks about postulates that will later be key in his doctrine.

In Letters on tolerance, the area of ​​individual freedom of the human being is especially addressed; at the same time, Locke points out as negative the intolerance proper to institutions such as the State and the Church.

Specifically, Locke speaks of the advantages in the area of ​​social peace that the existence of religious freedom brings.

Two Treatises on Civil Government

This book was also published anonymously in 1689.

The first treatise strongly criticizes the concept of patriarchy or absolute monarchy. For his part, in the second treatise Locke begins to speak more clearly about the social contract and the freedom of men based on natural rights.

In this last treaty it is where Locke proposes to create the Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers, to favor the eradication of corruption.

Locke considers that the most important power was the Judicial, which he conceived as an institution chosen by the people and which, in turn, was in charge of choosing the rulers. These notions were very influential in the context of the Enlightenment.

Essay on human understanding

Published in 1690, this book shows the first notions related to the so-called English empiricism.

For Locke, there was no such thing as innate ideas, but it was through experience that human beings could develop their intellect and come to knowledge.

Locke indicates that the first source through which knowledge is obtained are the senses; and then the internal experience or reflection appears, which corresponds to the perception of each individual.

Main contributions

Human understanding

In many ways Locke's works are the best way to understand human intelligentsia. The power of knowledge and the development of ideology on the understanding of the human being and his actions justify his reputation as a philosopher.

Locke explores the conception of knowledge and divides it into three degrees:

-The first would be intuitive knowledge. It is when the connection between two ideas is directly perceived.

-The second calls it demonstrative. When it is not possible to perceive an immediate connection between two ideas.

-The third is sensitive knowledge. Locke affirms that the first two are the only forms of knowledge, but that there is "another perception of the mind…" that goes a little further and would be related to ideas and the external objects that produce them.

Primary and secondary qualities of objects

Locke outlines themes that have been the source of much debate. The qualities are divided into:

• Primary; those that the object has such as size, weight and shape, among others.
• Secondary, which would be the product of the power that the object has to impress the mind with certain ideas, such as color, smell and taste.

Locke suggests this experiment to test his theory:

After evaluating the possible outcomes, Locke determines:

«I am of the opinion that the blind man could not say with certainty which is the sphere and which is the cube just by looking at them; although I could unequivocally recognize them by touch…. "

Will

By exploring the subject of will, Locke determines the human capacity to make decisions and have control over actions.

In his analysis, he offers a useful way of differentiating voluntary from involuntary actions, but an open question remains about whether the will itself is free.

At first Locke infers that the will is determined, and later agrees that it is linked to concern.

A "restlessness" found in human beings would be what would determine the will and its actions. Then the perception of the matter, whether it is good or bad, would establish the choice.

Personal identity

Locke suggests that what determines that a person is the same over time is the ability to recognize himself in past experiences, that is, the continuity of consciousness. This theory was highly controversial in later philosophical discussions.

Real and nominal essences

One of the most admirable components of Locke's essays belongs to the differentiation he makes about the real essence of a thing and the nominal essence of it.

The greatest philosophers of the time maintained that the main objective of science was to learn about the essence of things.

Locke thought that this theory was wrong, because for him this type of knowledge was not available to man. Therefore it suggests concentrating on the nominal essence.

Hence, his thesis on knowledge determines that very few things are real. Everything would be associated with the ideas we have of things, probabilities and expectations.

The reality is directly involved with the senses, while the truth would only be a matter of words.

Language

The role of language in the mental life of man, would be the first philosophical study of the meaning of language.

Words are representations of ideas in the mind of those who use them, through them data stored in the private thoughts of each person are transmitted. For Locke, most words are general to which people apply particularities.

Locke infers that general ideas become such by means of abstraction. For example, the concept of the word triangle is the result of abstracting the particularities of specific triangles, leaving only the information that all triangles have in common (three sides).

Politics

Locke is considered the father of modern liberalism. He held various positions in the government, hence he took an interest and debated the importance of the separation of powers as a form of balance.

He defended that "the subject of national sovereignty is the people", therefore, the state must protect and guarantee the rights and wishes of popular sovereignty, such as life, property and personal freedom. He also saw the right to happiness as a fundamental axis of society as something natural.

Locke affirms in his Two Treatises on Civil Government (1690), that the State arises from a social contract, leaving aside the doctrine of the “divine origin of power”.

Religion

This is a predominant sentence in his Epistle of Tolerance. He also devoted a large part of his life to theology.

In his work The Reasonableness of Christianity, he discussed many compulsory beliefs for Christians considering them unnecessary, developing a controversial work on “belief according to faith and belief according to reason”.

The person believes something according to faith when he understands it as a message from God and believes according to reason when he discovers something through the natural faculties of being.

Shortly before his death, Locke wrote about the Pauline Epistles. This work was incomplete but was published after his death, as was a short treatise on miracles.

Education

Some thoughts on education, was another of his fundamental works, where he firmly insists on the importance of physical and mental development.

It records that learning is better when the student is committed to the subject, outlining the pedagogical idea that the student should have a type of "self-direction" in their studies, a matter that would allow them to achieve their personal interests

In this way, he determined that the prejudices that take place in youth are usually very difficult to start in adult life, thus rejecting authoritarian approaches.

References

1. Letters on Tolerance (2009). John Locke; introduction, synthesis and notes by Leónidas Montes, Fernando Robles Otero edition. Mexico City. Mexico.
2. Biographies of the most prominent characters in History / Locke, John; introduction and notes by Patrick J. Connolly. Iowa State University. USA . Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu.
3. AMERICAN HISTORY From Revolution to the Reconstruction and beyond / Locke, John; author Graham AJ Rogers, University of Groningen let.rug.nl.
4. Biography / Locke, John; biography.com
5. ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA / Locke, John; britannica.com.
6. JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION / Who is John Locke ?; johnlocke.org.