Per G Locke

Erica Courtemanche, Demi Antinarelli, Brandon Fontaine, Pat Butler, Alex Nutting, and Andrew Kim
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‍‍John Locke‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍


"Though the familiar use of the Things about us, takes off our Wonder; yet it cures not our Ignorance."---An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (III. vi. 9)
"...he that will not give just occasion to think that all government in the world is the product only of force and violence, and that men live together by no other rules but that of beasts, where the strongest carries it...must of necessity find another rise of government, another original of political power..."---from The Second Treatise of Civil Government

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Biography

• Born on August 29, 1632 in Wrington, England
• He had Puritan (Calvanist parents) (Maurice, 1986)
• 1642, the English Civil War began and the fight between the Church and England and the Puritan House of Commons broke out
• Locke's father, also named John Locke, was made a captain of the Parliamentary Horse, it's leader, Alexander Popham sent young Locke to Westminister, England's best boarding school. (Maurice, 1986)
• at age 20, Locke gained a full scholarship into Oxford's Christ Church college. He excelled and was then admitted into the Royal College. (Maurice, 1986)
• his fascination with philosophy started after reading thePrincipia MathematicaPhilosophiae Naturalis Sir Isaac Newton. (European Graduate School, 1997-2010)
• In his early 30's, Locke decided to focus on medicine and studied once again at Oxford. (Maurice, 1986)
• 1656 John Locke got his B.A. (Oregon State University)
• 1658 John Locke got his M.A. (Oregon State University)
• 1661: Locke's father died (Oregon State University)
• In 1666, Locke met Anthony Ashley Cooper who became the Earl Of Shaftesbury. (Maurice, 1986)
• Locke remained Cooper's friend and physician and lived within his house. (Maurice, 1986)
• During his 15 years while living in Cooper's household, Locke devoted extra time to philosophy. Particularly studying the "new philosophy" of Rene Descartes. This new way of thinking involved questioning every specific detail until you have enough proof to make a general assumption. (Maurice 1986)
• 1667 John Locke began collaborating with Thomas Sydenham in medical research (Oregon State University)
• 1672 (October-November), John Locke visited Paris. (Oregon State University)
• 1689: published A Letter Concerning Toleration, worried about the threat atheists and that Catholics might pose to social order. (Powell)
• Locke's two treatises on government were published in 1689, defending the natural law position in which rulers cannot legitimately do anything they want, because the moral law applies to everyone. (Powell)
• 1690: Locke published Essay Concerning Human Understanding, his masterpiece on epistemology, describing his theory on how the mind functions in learning about the world (Jesseph,2001)
• 1696: Locke appointed to the Board of Trade and remained until 1700, while he was ill of health, being the most influential member. (Oregon State University)
• For the remainder of his life, he studied the Holy Scriptures. (The Illustrated Magazine of Art, 1853)
• At 72 years old, Locke died on October 28, 1704 (Oregon State University)

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Principles and Beliefs

• God created man. Because God created man, we are God's property.
• Locke believed humans are all subject to Natural Law. Which he defined as: God's law made known to men through the voice of reason. Natural Law is defined as the instinctive sense of what's right and wrong.
• Believed in the "Blank Slate" principle. We are all born with complete ignorace, that our experiences and teachings influence our personalities. Our mind uses simple ideas to form more complex ideas by combining and examining simple ideas. (IEP, 2001)
• Locke's idea of "all men are created equal" comes from his "Blank Slate" idea. If we are all born with a blank conscience, then we should be treated equally.
• Personal Identity: Locke believes that as a person, when we grow our soul and our body change, but our consciousness remains the same. In other words, we do not remain the same person as we grow older, we are always changing. (IEP, 2001)
• Believed in Liberty and freedom, that if humans were given the chance to make their own choices, they would choose good and pursue happiness. Also, a supporter of religious toleration. (Maurice, 1986)
• The function of government is not to control the people, but to protect the people's life, liberty, and property. (Maurice, 1986)
• Believed rebellion is acceptable, by the people who accepted the government, only if the government does not perform it's duties properly. European Graduate School, 1997-2010)
• government should not interfere with interest rates or trade (IEP, 2001)
• Locke said that there must be a separation between church and state since the state doesn't enforce public morality, but to protect people's rights from being violated by others. (Braman, 1996)
• he said "children do not possess the freedoms possessed by adults until they have reached the age whereby their reason has developed."(Braman, 1996)
• Believed people had a right to self defense. He said, "men, being once born, have a right to their preservation." (Braman,1996)
• Locke was not a democrat: He believed that laborers didn't have the time, education, or inclination to make rational political judgements, and shouldn't have a voice in the government. He denied a role in politics or government to people who didn't own property. (Cody, 1988)
• Said the essence of matter is solidity. Solidity is inseparable from matter, while space is not. (California State University)
• The idea of God equals the combination of the ideas of being, power, wisdom, happiness, and infinity. (California State University)
• There are three degrees of knowledge: knowledge by intuition, knowledge by demonstration, and sensitive knowledge. (California State University)
• "Freedom is our faculty to prevent, continue, start or stop our action." (California State University)
• "Locke denies the Freedom of Will, for Will is determined by our desire (thus, is not free)." (California State University)
• Government had independent branches: executive, legislative, federative, judicial (California State University)
• Locke's ideas were taken by French philosophers, as well as English and American thinkers. They translated his philosophy of human nature into Sensationisim and Mechanism. (Boeree, 2000)
  
  

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John Locke: The First Founding Father

• Locke's beliefs were read and studied by the Founding Fathers of the USA and influenced the creation of the Constitution.
• Locke's Ideas in our government (IEP,2001) (Maurice, 1986)There has been evidence of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson using Locke's work to influence their ideas. (Maurice, 1986)
  • Freedom of religion
  • All men are created Equal
  • Government by the people, and therefore can be overthrown by the people (present-day impeachment)
  • the government's job to protect a person's "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"
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• Locke not only impacted our government, he forever changed England's system of government from a Monarchy into a Constitutional Monarchy with a Parliament.

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Locke and The Catholic View of Human Nature:

• John Locke and the Catholic Church's views of human nature are very similar for the most part
• Both believe that God created man in his own image
• We are God's property
• Everyone is capable of good
• However, Locke's blank slate idea contrasts the Catholic idea of original sin.
• Locke believes we are all born with empty minds. We are capable of nothing. Good nor bad
• The Catholic Church believes that once we are born we are naturally inclined to sin. (Uzgalis, 2010)

TIME LINE:
http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/John-Locke









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Works Cited
"John Locke." Oregon State University. Web. 09 Sept. 2011. http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/locke.html.

"JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)." California State University, Dominguez Hills. Web. 12 Sept. 2011. <http://www.csudh.edu/phenom_studies/western/lect_5.html>.

Boeree, George C. "Empiricism and Rationalism." My Webspace Files. 2000. Web. 12 Sept. 2011. <http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/empvsrat.html>.

Braman, Chuck. "The Political Philosophy of John Locke." Chuck Braman. 1996. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. <http://www.chuckbraman.com/Writing/WritingFilesPhilosophy/locke.htm>.

Cody, David. "John Locke." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 1988. Web. 11 Sept. 2011. <http://www.victorianweb.org/philosophy/locke1.html>.

Cranston, Maurice. "Locke and Liberty." The Wilson Quarterly 10.5 (1986): 82-93. Jstor. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Web. 5 Sept. 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40257094.

European Graduate School. "John Locke - Philosopher - Biography." The European Graduate School - Media and Communication - Graduate & Postgraduate Studies Program. 1997-2010. Web. 01 Sept. 2011. http://www.egs.edu/library/john-locke/biography/.

Jesseph, Douuglas M. "Locke, John." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2001. Web, 9 Sept 2011.

John Locke Foundation. "Founding Principles." John Locke Foundation. 2011. Web. 01 Sept. 2011. http://www.johnlocke.org/about/founding_principles.html.

John Locke, The Illustrated Magazine of Art, vol. 1, No.3 (1853), pp. 181-183
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/view/20537939&Search=yes&searchText=john&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Djohn%2Blocke%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don>


Powell, Jim. "John Locke Natural Rights to Life, Liberty, and Property." The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty. Foundation for Economic Education. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. <http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/john-locke-natural-rights-to-life-liberty-and-property/>.

SCHOCHET, GORDON. "Locke, John (1632–1704)." Europe, 1450 to 1789:Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. Ed. Jonathan Dewald. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. 525-528. Gale World History In Context. Web. 31 Aug. 2011.

Uzgalis, William. "John Locke (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2007. Web. 09 Sept. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/#HumNatGodPur>.

"Locke, John [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 17 Apr. 2001. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/locke/>.