JOHN LOCKE

 commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism".

John Locke August 1632 – 28 October 1704 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".Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition
of Sir 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 Jean-Jacques 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 David Hume, Rousseau,
and Immanuel Kant. Locke was the first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness.
He postulated that, at birth, 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 experiencederived
from sense perception. This is now known as empiricism. An example of Locke's belief in
empiricism can be seen in his quote, "whatever I write, as soon as I discover it not to be true,
my hand shall be the forwardest to throw it into the fire." This shows the ideology of science in
his observations in that something must be capable of being tested repeatedly and that nothing
is exempt from being disproven. Challenging the work of others, Locke is said to have
established the method of introspection, or observing the emotions and behaviours of one’s self.

Theories of religious tolerance

Locke, writing his Letters Concerning Toleration (1689–1692) in the aftermath of the European wars
of religion, formulated a classic reasoning for religious tolerance. Three arguments are central: (1)
Earthly judges, the state in particular, and human beings generally, cannot dependably evaluate the
truth-claims of competing religious standpoints; (2) Even if they could, enforcing a single "true
religion" would not have the desired effect, because belief cannot be compelled by violence; (3)
Coercing religious uniformity would lead to more social disorder than allowing diversity.[24]
With regard to his position on religious tolerance, Locke was influenced by Baptist theologians
like John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, who had published tracts demanding freedom of conscience
in the early 17th century.[25][26][27] Baptist theologian Roger Williams founded the colony Rhode
Island in 1636, where he combined a democratic constitution with unlimited religious freedom. His
tract The Bloody Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience (1644), which was widely read in
the mother country, was a passionate plea for absolute religious freedom and the total separation of
church and state.[28] Freedom of conscience had had high priority on the theological, philosophical
and political agenda, since Martin Luther refused to recant his beliefs before the Diet of the Holy
Roman Empire at Worms in 1521, unless he would be proved false by the Bible.

Theory of value and property

Locke uses the word property in both broad and narrow senses. In a broad sense, it covers a wide
range of human interests and aspirations; more narrowly, it refers to material goods. He argues that
property is a natural right and it is derived from labour.
In Chapter V of his Second Treatise, Locke argues that the individual ownership of goods and
property is justified by the labour exerted to produce those goods or utilise property to produce
goods beneficial to human society.[34]
Locke stated his belief, in his Second Treatise, that nature on its own provides little of value to
society, implying that the labour expended in the creation of goods gives them their value. This
position can be seen as a labour theory of value.[34]
From this premise, Locke developed a labour theory of property, namely that ownership
of property is created by the application of labour. In addition, he believed that property precedes
government and government cannot "dispose of the estates of the subjects arbitrarily." Karl
Marx later critiqued Locke's theory of property in his own social theory.

Political theory
Locke's political theory was founded on social contract theory. Unlike Thomas Hobbes, Locke
believed that human nature is characterised by reason and tolerance. Like Hobbes, Locke believed
that human nature allowed people to be selfish. This is apparent with the introduction of currency. In
a natural state all people were equal and independent, and everyone had a natural right to defend
his "Life, health, Liberty, or Possessions".[35] Most scholars trace the phrase "life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness," in the American Declaration of Independence, to Locke's theory of
rights,[36] though other origins have been suggested.[37]
Like Hobbes, Locke assumed that the sole right to defend in the state of nature was not enough, so
people established a civil society to resolve conflicts in a civil way with help from government in a
state of society. However, Locke never refers to Hobbes by name and may instead have been
responding to other writers of the day.[38] Locke also advocated governmental separation of
powers and believed that revolution is not only a right but an obligation in some circumstances.
These ideas would come to have profound influence on the Declaration of Independence and
the Constitution of the United States.

The self
Locke defines the self as "that conscious thinking thing, (whatever substance, made up of whether
spiritual, or material, simple, or compounded, it matters not) which is sensible, or conscious of
pleasure and pain, capable of happiness or misery, and so is concerned for itself, as far as that
consciousness extends".[44] He does not, however, ignore "substance", writing that "the body too
goes to the making the man."[45]
In his Essay, Locke explains the gradual unfolding of this conscious mind. Arguing against both
the Augustinian view of man as originally sinful and the Cartesian position, which holds that man
innately knows basic logical propositions, Locke posits an "empty" mind, a tabula rasa, which is
shaped by experience; sensations and reflections being the two sources of all our ideas.[46]
Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education is an outline on how to educate this mind: he
expresses the belief that education maketh the man, or, more fundamentally, that the mind is an
"empty cabinet", with the statement, "I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts of
ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education."[47]
Locke also wrote that "the little and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very
important and lasting consequences."[47] He argued that the "associations of ideas" that one makes
when young are more important than those made later because they are the foundation of the self:
they are, put differently, what first mark the tabula rasa. In his Essay, in which both these concepts
are introduced, Locke warns against, for example, letting "a foolish maid" convince a child that
"goblins and sprites" are associated with the night for "darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it
those frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other."[48]
This theory came to be called "associationism", and it strongly influenced 18th-century thought,
particularly educational theory, as nearly every educational writer warned parents not to allow their
children to develop negative associations. It also led to the development of psychology and other
new disciplines with David Hartley's attempt to discover a biological mechanism for associationism in
his Observations on Man (1749).

1. John Locke, born on August 29, 1632, in Wrington, Somerset, England, went to
Westminster school and then Christ Church, University of Oxford. At Oxford he studied
medicine, which would play a central role in his life. He became a highly influential
philosopher, writing about such topics as political philosophy, epistemology, and education.
Locke's writings helped found modern Western philosophy.
2. 3. His theories concerning the separation of Church and State, religious freedom, and
liberty, not only influenced European thinkers such as the French Enlightenment writer,
Voltaire, but shaped the thinking of America's founders, from Alexander Hamilton to Thomas
Jefferson.
3. 4. Pedagogical theory EDUCATION MAKES THE MAN Locke posits an "empty" mind—a
tabula rasa— that is "filled" by experience. THEORY OF THE SELF. That is, the
"associations of ideas" made when young are more significant than those made when
mature because they are the foundation of the self
4. 5. Locke's emphasis on the role of experience in the formation of the mind and his concern
with false associations of ideas has led many to characterise his theory of mind as passive
rather than active
5. 6. Body and mind Locke advises parents to carefully nurture their children's physical "habits"
before pursuing their academic education. this seemingly simple generic innovation has
proven to be one of Locke's most enduring legacies—Western child-rearing manuals are still
dominated by the topics of food and sleep.
6. 7. Virtue and reason He defines virtue as a combination of self-denial and rationality: "that a
man is able to deny himself his own desires, cross his own inclinations, and purely follow
what reason directs as best, though the appetite lean the other way“ Locke was convinced
that children could reason early in life and that parents should address them as reasoning
beings.
7. 8. Academic curriculum Education is about instilling virtue and what Western educators
would now call critical-thinking skills. Locke maintains that parents or teachers must first
teach children how to learn and to enjoy learning Locke's curricular recommendations reflect
the break from scholastic humanism and the emergence of a new kind of education—one
emphasising not only science but also practical professional training.
8. 9. Philosophy Locke examines the nature of the human mind and the process by which it
knows the world. Repudiating the traditional doctrine of innate ideas, Locke believed that the
mind is born blank, a tabula rasa upon which the world describes itself through the
experience of the five senses.
9. 10. Political Theory Contradicting Thomas Hobbes, Locke believed that the original state of
nature was happy and characterized by reason and tolerance. In that state all people were
equal and independent, and none had a right to harm another's "life, health, liberty, or
possessions."
10. 11. Ethical Theory Locke based his ethical theories upon belief in the natural goodness of
humanity. The inevitable pursuit of happiness and pleasure, when conducted rationally,
leads to cooperation, and in the long run private happiness and the general welfare coincide.
11. 12. “Los hombres olvidan siempre que la felicidad humana es una disposición de la mente
y no una condición de las circunstancias.” John Locke 1632-1704.