Portrait: John Locke, the father of Classical Liberalism

Saturday, 1 March 2014 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: Portrait
Reading Time:  4 minutes

John Locke signature

John Locke signature

John Locke (1632 – 1704), widely known as the Father of Classical Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social contract theory. His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. His writings influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence.

Locke’s theory of mind is often cited as the origin of modern conceptions of identity and the self, figuring prominently in the work of later philosophers such as Hume, Rousseau and Kant. Locke was the first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness. He postulated that the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa. Contrary to Cartesian philosophy based on pre-existing concepts, he maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from sense perception.

Portrait of John Locke by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1697 Title page of John Locke's "Two Treatises of Government" from the 1690 edition. Source: LOC's collection John Locke signature
<
>
Title page of John Locke's "Two Treatises of Government" from the 1690 edition. Source: LOC's collection
His Two Treatises of Government is a work of political philosophy published anonymously in 1689. The First Treatise attacks patriarchalism in the form of sentence-by-sentence refutation of Robert Filmer‘s Patriarcha, while the Second Treatise outlines Locke’s ideas for a more civilised society based on natural rights and contract theory. John Locke begins by describing the state of nature, a picture much more stable than Thomas Hobbes‘ state of “war of every man against every man,” and argues that all men are created equal in the state of nature by God. From this, he goes on to explain the hypothetical rise of property and civilisation, in the process explaining that the only legitimate governments are those that have the consent of the people. Therefore, any government that rules without the consent of the people can, in theory, be overthrown.

“To properly understand political power and trace its origins, we must consider the state that all people are in naturally. That is a state of perfect freedom of acting and disposing of their own possessions and persons as they think fit within the bounds of the law of nature. People in this state do not have to ask permission to act or depend on the will of others to arrange matters on their behalf. The natural state is also one of equality in which all power and jurisdiction is reciprocal and no one has more than another. It is evident that all human beings – as creatures belonging to the same species and rank and born indiscriminately with all the same natural advantages and faculties – are equal amongst themselves. They have no relationship of subordination or subjection unless God (the lord and master of them all) had clearly set one person above another and conferred on him an undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty.”

Read more on Two Treatises on Government (1680-1690) and Wikipedia John Locke (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Drottningholm Palace on Island Lovön in Lake Mälaren

Drottningholm Palace on Island Lovön in Lake Mälaren

[caption id="attachment_24966" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Drottningholm Palace © Sxenko/cc-by-2.5[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Drottningholm Palace (Swedish: Drottningholms slott) is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. It is located in Drottningholm. It is built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), and is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. It was originally built in the late 16th century. It served as a residence of the Swedish royal court for most of the 18th century. Apart from ...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Moscow - The Seven Sisters

Theme Week Moscow - The Seven Sisters

[responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Seven Sisters are a group of seven skyscrapers in Moscow designed in the Stalinist style. The term "Seven Sisters" is neither used nor understood by the local population, Muscovites call them Vysotki or Stalinskie Vysotki, meaning "(Stalin's) high-rises" (or "Stalinist skyscrapers"). They were built from 1947 to 1953, in an elaborate combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, and the technology used in building American skyscrapers. [caption id="attachment_26140" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Lomon...

[ read more ]

Theme Week South Korea - Daegu

Theme Week South Korea - Daegu

[caption id="attachment_193280" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Dalgubeol Grand Bell at National Debt Repayment Movement Memorial Park © Timber Tank/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Daegu is the fourth-largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third-largest metropolitan area in the nation with over 2.5 million residents. Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang Province are often referred to as Daegu-Gyeongbuk, with a total population over 5 million. Daegu is located in south-eastern Korea about 80 km (50 mi) from t...

[ read more ]

The port city of Ancona

The port city of Ancona

[caption id="attachment_161172" align="aligncenter" width="590"] The Vanvitelli's Lazzaretto, project of the architect Luigi Vanvitelli © Mungany[/caption]Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 102,997. Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located 280 km (170 mi) northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea, between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno and Monte Guasco. Ancona is one of the main ports on the Adriatic Sea, especially for passenger traffic, and ...

[ read more ]

Chengdu, panda bear capital of the world and capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China

Chengdu, panda bear capital of the world and capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China

[caption id="attachment_23603" align="alignleft" width="590"] Tianfu Square © Fangoufang/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Chengdu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status. The urban area houses 14,047,625 inhabitants: 7,123,697 within the municipality's nine districts and 6,730,749 in the surrounding region. Chengdu is one of the most important economic, transportation, and communication centers in Western China. According to the 2007 Public Appraisal fo...

[ read more ]

Knutsford in North West England

Knutsford in North West England

[caption id="attachment_153111" align="aligncenter" width="590"] King Street © Maciej Preś/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Knutsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in North West England with 13,000 inhabitants. It is about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Manchester and 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Macclesfield. Knutsford is situated on the Cheshire Plain, between the Peak District in the South Pennines to the east and the Clwydian R...

[ read more ]

The Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv

The Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv

[caption id="attachment_170995" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Rastaman3000/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Azrieli Center is a complex of skyscrapers in Tel Aviv. At the base of the center lies a large shopping mall. The center was originally designed by Israeli-American architect Eli Attia, and after he fell out with the developer of the center, completion of the design was passed on to the Tel Aviv firm of Moore Yaski Sivan Architects. The center was not named after Israeli-Canadian real estate developer David Azr...

[ read more ]

Bad Münstereifel - City Outlet

Bad Münstereifel - City Outlet

[caption id="attachment_209753" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © panoramio.com - Jan Uyttebroeck/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Bad Münstereifel is a historical spa town in the district of Euskirchen with about 17,000 inhabitants, situated in the far southeast of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The little town is one of only few historical towns in the southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia, and because of this is often overcrowded by tourists throughout Spring and Summer. Bad Münstereifel lies abou...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Iran - Kerman

Theme Week Iran - Kerman

[caption id="attachment_162639" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Shazdeh Garden - Prince's Garden © Mohsen Abdolhosseini/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Kerman is the capital city of Kerman Province. At the 2011 census, its population was 800,000, making it the 10th most populous city of Iran. It is the largest and most developed city in Kerman Province and the most important city in the southeast of Iran. It is also one of the largest cities of Iran in terms of area. Kerman is famous for its long history and strong cult...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Ulster - Donegal Town

Theme Week Ulster - Donegal Town

[caption id="attachment_152547" align="aligncenter" width="590"] The Diamond - Main Square © Kanchelskis/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Donegal or Donegal Town (Irish: Dún na nGall, English: fort of the foreigners) is a town in County Donegal. The name was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall. Donegal gave its name to County Donegal, although Lifford is now the county town. Until the early 1600s, Donegal was the 'capital' of Tír Chonaill, a Gaelic kingdom controlled by the O'Donnell Clan of...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
Swimmingpool © Monster4711/cc-by-sa-3.0
The Europa 2

The MS Europa 2 is a cruise ship operating for Hapag Lloyd. She entered service in May 2013. The first...

© flickr.com - Edward Simpson/cc-by-sa-2.0
30 St Mary Axe in the City of London

30 St Mary Axe, widely known informally as "the Gherkin" and previously the Swiss Re Building, is a skyscraper in...

South Street Seaport © flickr.com - ian reid/cc-by-2.0
The port of New York

New York Harbor, part of the Port of New York and New Jersey, is at the mouth of the Hudson...

Schließen