Locke Government Theory
Uploaded by Sandmanw82 on Oct 11, 1999
John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, into a middle class family during late Renaissance England. Locke started his studies at Christ Church in Oxford. He then went into medical studies and received a medical license, which he practiced under Anthony Cooper. They became friends, and when Cooper became Earl of Shaftesbury, Locke was able to hold minor government jobs and became involved in politics. Shaftesbury steered Locke towards the views of a government whose law was fair to all, and all were under the law.
In 1679, Shaftesbury was tried for treason against James, Duke of York, who would later become King James II. Shaftesbury had tried to prevent James's right of succession, so he fled to Holland, and Locke followed. Locke returned to England with Queen Mary when she overthrew James II in the Glorious Revolution. The support which Locke showed for Mary demonstrates his mindset of politics, and shows his opposition towards despotic rulers and divine right. Locke saw many important men while in England, including Sir Isaac Newton, of whom he wrote. Through Locke's friendships with numerous government officials, Locke became influential in the politics of the seventeenth century. Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, written in 1690, dealt with the subject of human philosophy, and was written with consistency to the theories of Newton. Locke's views that experience produces ideas led him to believe that people are not aware of physical objects, but rather that they are aware of symbols for those objects, a believe shared by others such as Galileo and Descartes before him.
John Locke became convinced that true knowledge cannot be attained in natural science, but only through concrete mathematics. This theory was later adopted by several other philosophers. Locke was the first theorist of the philosphy of liberalism, which says that the state exists to preserve the natural rights of its citizens.
Locke's philosophical beliefs and theories are the basis of numerous other philosophers, and play an important role in the development of the American judicial system. Some examples of these are the pursuit of happiness and the system of checks and balances throughout the branches of government, known as the separation of powers.
Locke's view of the state of nature is a state of being where all men are created equal, and all men have the right to protect their life, freedom, and possesions. Therefore, no individual has the right to take away...