John Locke Essay

Submitted By xsamoh26
Words: 1728
Pages: 7
Open Document
John Locke
John Locke can be considered one of the most influential philosophers that came out of the seventeenth century. Locke was born to Puritan parents, with his father being a county lawyer and served as apart of the cavalry company in the early civil war. (Uzgalis,) His father being a lawyer allowed Locke to receive an education at the Westminster School. At the age of twenty Locke went on to attend the Christ Church in Oxford. Here he was able to receive a bachelor’s degree in logic, metaphysics and classical languages. (Uzgalis,) Following his Bachelors degree he went on to study medicine and obtain a Master’s degree. His knowledge in medicine is what led him to meet Anthony Ashley Cooper. Cooper helped Locke by teaching and informing him about the government and its policies. Soon after, Locke began to write about economics, and became politically biased on the society’s absolute government. During this time period, James II fled the country due to William of Orange’s and his army that had been invited to take the crown of England. (Uzgalis,) With James II fleeing, William and Princess Mary were left to have control over England. William and Mary had offered Locke a position as an Ambassador but Locke refused it. However, John later accepted a spot on The Board of Trade and Plantations. Eight years after he accepted the position, Locke died in 1704 leaving behind many memorable works including “The Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration”
John Locke’s literary works were written during the late seventeenth century, or also a time known as the Glorious Revolution. During the Glorious Revolution, the throne was being taken over by William of Orange and Princess Mary. At this time, there was a shift with political power. The king no longer controlled the power of the kingdom, but instead it belonged to Parliament. Locke’s works were greatly influenced with this disgust towards Absolutism and that some may even say that they even poke fun at Kings Divine Right. The Divine Right or Absolutism is known to be that a king is in charge because God had said so. This created many issues, including that most of the kings would become power hungry, and would not have to answer to anyone except for God himself. John Locke was against this theory of the Divine Right, and writes about many ideas that have the qualities of a constitutional monarchy. One of his popular books with these concepts is “ The Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration”. His book greatly influenced the French revolution and Thomas Jefferson while drawing up ideas for the constitution.
In “The Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration”, Locke speaks about many points that were common issues within the government during the late seventeenth century. The book depicts his ideal government that has qualities of a constitutional monarchy. He discusses many points within his novel but many of the points can relate back to Thomas Jefferson and his drawing of the constitution. Some of these points include the State of Nature, Paternal Powers and powers within the government. Locke begins his book with discussing the State of Nature. State of Nature is “ A state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another”. (Locke 2) He makes the argument that everyone is created equal, and that no one is above the law and has more power than another. His perspective is different from what was currently going on in society, where the kings did not have to answer to the law, and were above it. Even though the State of Nature was to create all man as equal, there are still loopholes into ways that men can be superior to others in ways of punishment. He believes that if one person is allowed to punish someone, then
Show More

Related Documents: John Locke Essay

John Locke Legacy

derived from the divine right of kings, meaning their power to rule was directly granted by God. However, the Age of Enlightenment brought forth innovative ideas across various fields such as anthropology, sociology, economics, and political science. John Locke, a key political theorist of this enlightened period, was born on August 29, 1632, and passed away on October 28, 1704. Locke’s legacy continues to shape political thought and government structures around the…

Words 1053 - Pages 5

John Locke Essay

John Locke Larissa Griffith Contemporary Ethics Upper Iowa University 8/4/2013 There were many philosophers throughout the Enlightenment period. Some of these great thinkers shared similar views on related ideas, others differed completely. I personally agreed most with John Locke’s philosophies. Locke was born in 1632 and died in 1704. His works concerned human nature, how the structure of a society should be set up, and other issues to that effect. Locke’s philosophies…

Words 469 - Pages 2

John Locke Accomplishments

John Locke was an english philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the father of liberalism. John Locke accomplishments were that he wanted to make his own conclusions based on his experience and reasoning. Also he wanted to become a government. How did they impact this person? John locke family is his mom Agnes keene, His father John locke, and his brother Thomas Locke. John Locke made a essay and he named it John´s…

Words 449 - Pages 2

john locke Essay

outline written by John Locke describing his political theories. Locke, a politician during the Enlightenment period, wrote this for his government, future governments and for the citizens to try and teach them on his theories of creating the perfect government. Section 2, Thesis/Argument: Locke wrote this with the purpose of education future governments and Politian’s on his theories of the perfect government. Locke’s ideas and theories are based on the social contract theory. Locke believed that…

Words 492 - Pages 2

john locke Essay

John Locke John Locke was born in 1632, in Wrington. He is British philosopher, Oxford academic and medical researcher. Locke was one of the greatest philosophers in Europe at the end of the seventeenth century. He grew up and lived in one of the most extraordinary centuries of English political and intellectual history. It was also a century of crown and parliament and the conflicts between Protestants, Angelicans, and Catholics witch caused a civil war in the 1640s. In February of 1656 Locke received…

Words 340 - Pages 2

John Locke Essay

John Locke John Locke would change the thinking of many, and one day even shape the Declaration of Independence. He was quite a interesting thinker for his time, being that many were doing the exact opposite of what he was writing in his many essays and books. This showed John Locke had a determination to get his ideas out and maybe one day someone would follow. In Wrington Somerset England, Locke was born on August 29th, 1632. His education proved quite strong for he went to many prestigious…

Words 830 - Pages 4

John Locke Essay

Luke Mette Mr. Somerville AP U.S History October 5, 2014 John Locke's Influences John Locke's political philosophies influenced the American colonists by establishing a new format of government for a new nation. Locke rejected the claim that kings and queens had a “divine right” to rule others. Instead, governments were created among naturally free people as social compacts or contracts. Locke argued that rebellion against such a government was acceptable if it failed to protect certain “self-evident”…

Words 608 - Pages 3

John Locke Dbq

the 1500-1700s are Thomas Hobbs, John Locke, and Adam Smith. Thomas Hobbs, like the other two men, is considered as one of the founders of political philosophy. Potentially Hobbs' largest contribution towards political thinking was his book Leviathan that addressed…

Words 662 - Pages 3

John Locke Conciseness

outlooks on the world are often times repeated. What is it that makes every single person different from billions of other humans? As an answer to the question, John Locke speculates that even our bodies are not the distinction of difference between people due to the idea that someone can have multiple origins of beginning. The argument that Locke proposes is that every person has a conciseness that make them differentiable between other humans. The trait of a human’s ability to be concise of their existence…

Words 1010 - Pages 5

John Locke Research Paper

Rapid Rise to an Influential Innovation "Of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil useful or not, by their education. Tis this that makes the great difference in mankind." (Locke) John Locke explains in this quotation, the importance of education. Locke is a man to stress education and he expresses in this quote how education is what makes a man. He believes no matter a man's propensity, naturally, or a man's born inclinations, it is his education in which will…

Words 1516 - Pages 7