Locke's theories were usually aboutidentity and theself. Locke thought that we are born without thoughts, and thatknowledge is instead determined only byexperience.[6]
Locke's father, who was also named John Locke, was acountry lawyer.[7] He had served as a captain in the early part of theEnglish Civil War. His mother, Agnes Keene, was atanner's daughter and was thought to be very beautiful. Both mother and father werePuritans. Locke wasborn on 29 August 1632, in acottage by the church inWrington,Somerset, about twelve miles fromBristol. He wasbaptized when he was born. After that, his family soon moved toPensford.
In 1647, Locke was sent toWestminster School inLondon. During this time he was beingsponsored byAlexander Popham, a member of theParliament. After finishing his studies there, he went into the Christ Church. Although Locke was a good student, he did not like the schedule of the time spent there. He did not like theclassical subjects taught at the university, and wanted to learn more about modern philosophy. Through his friend Richard Lower, whom he had met at the school, Locke learned about medicine, because his friend Richard Lower taught it to him.
Locke was awarded abachelor's degree in 1656 and a master's degree in 1658. In 1666, he met Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, who had come to Oxford seeking treatment for hisliver disease. Cooper wasimpressed with Locke and asked him to come.
Locke had been looking for a job and in 1667 moved into Shaftesbury's home at Exeter House in London, to serve as Lord Ashley's personalphysician. InLondon, Locke continued his studies on medicine.
Locke's medical knowledge was put to the test when Shaftesbury'sliver disease became worse until Shaftesbury was about to die. Locke used the advice of several physicians and persuaded Shaftesbury to go to an operation. Shaftesbury lived through the operation and thanked Locke for saving his life.
John Locke
Shaftesbury, as a member of theWhig movement, was a big influence on Locke's political ideas. However, after Shaftesbury began to fall from favor in 1675, Locke decided to travel acrossFrance. He came back toEngland in 1679. At this time, due to Shaftesbury's insistance, Locke wrote theTwo Treatises of Government. While it was once thought that Locke wrote the Treatises todefend theGlorious Revolution of 1688, recent scholarship has shown that the work was composed before this even started.[8]
However, Locke ran away to theNetherlands in 1683. This is because people became suspicious of him beinginvolved in the Rye House Plot to assassinate KingCharles II of England. In the Netherlands, Locke had time to return to his writing, spending a great deal of time re-working the essay. Locke did not return home until after theGlorious Revolution. Locke came withWilliam of Orange's wife back to England in 1688.
Locke's close friend Lady Masham invited him to join her at the Mashams' country house in Essex. Although his time there was marked by variable health fromasthma attacks, he nevertheless became an intellectual hero of the Whigs. During this period he discussed matters with such figures asJohn Dryden andIsaac Newton.
He died on 28 October 1704, and is buried in the churchyard of the village ofHigh Laver,[9] east ofHarlow inEssex, where he had lived in the household of Sir Francis Masham since 1691. Locke never married nor had children.
↑Broad, C.D. (2000).Ethics And the History of Philosophy. UK: Routledge.ISBN0-415-22530-2.
↑Peter Laslett, "Two Treatises of Government and the Revolution of 1688," section III of Laslett's editorial "Introduction" to John Locke,Two Treatises of Government, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
