John Locke 1632-1704
John Locke was born August 29, 1632, in Wrington, Somerset, England. Regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers, he was known as the Father of Classical Liberalism. He was an economist, political operative, physician, Oxford scholar, and medical researcher as well as one of the great philosophers of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Locke created the philosophy that there was no legitimate government under the Divine Right of Kings theory, which emphasized that God chose some people to rule on earth in His will. Therefore, the monarch’s actions were the will of God and to criticize the ruler meant you were challenging God. However, Locke did not believe in this theory and wrote his own to challenge it.
Locke’s writings also greatly influenced the founding fathers of the United States when writing the Constitution. They implemented his idea that the power to govern was obtained from the permission of the people. He believed the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of its citizens. He stated that natural rights were life, liberty, and property, and that all people automatically earned these simply by being born. When a government did not protect those rights, the citizen had the right to overthrow the government. These ideas were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. Once they took root in North America, the philosophy was adopted in other places as justification for revolution.
Locke believed that children are born with their mind a blank sheet of paper, a clean slate, a tabula rasa. He also maintained that children are potentially free and rational beings, and that the realization of these human qualities tends to be disillusioned through imposition of the sort of prejudice that perpetuates oppression and fallacy. Locke believed it was the upbringing and education that hindered the development of children's humanity. Locke noted two consequences of the doctrine of the tabula rasa: egalitarianism and vulnerability.
Locke believed the purpose of education was to produce an individual with a sound mind in a sound body so as to better serve his country. Locke thought that the content of education ought to depend upon one's station in life. The common man only required moral, social, and vocational knowledge. He could do quite well with the Bible and a highly developed vocational skill that would serve to support him in life and offer social service to others. However, the education of gentlemen ought to be of the very highest quality. The gentleman must serve his country in a position of leadership.
For gentlemen, Locke believed that the he must have a thorough knowledge of his own language. The schools of the Puritans in England broke with tradition completely. They sought to educate one for the society in which he would live. The schools were called, therefore, schools of social realism. Locke, in keeping with Milton and other Puritans, held that the content of the curriculum must serve some practical end. He recommended the introduction of contemporary foreign languages, history, geography, economics, math and science.
Locke proposed the following for the education of the gentleman:
a. Moral Training. All Christians must learn to live virtuously.
b. Good Breeding. The gentleman must develop the poise, control and outward behavior of excellent manners. Education must aim, therefore, at
developing correct social skills.
c. Wisdom. The gentleman ought to be able to apply intellectual and moral knowledge in governing his practical affairs.
d. Useful Knowledge. The gentleman must receive education which will lead to a successful life in the practical affairs of the society, as well as that which
leads to the satisfaction derived from scholarship and good books.
In his final years he lived in the country at Oates in Essex at the home of Sir Francis and Lady Masham. Before his death, Locke saw four more editions of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. He died at Oates in Essex on October 28, 1704.
Locke created the philosophy that there was no legitimate government under the Divine Right of Kings theory, which emphasized that God chose some people to rule on earth in His will. Therefore, the monarch’s actions were the will of God and to criticize the ruler meant you were challenging God. However, Locke did not believe in this theory and wrote his own to challenge it.
Locke’s writings also greatly influenced the founding fathers of the United States when writing the Constitution. They implemented his idea that the power to govern was obtained from the permission of the people. He believed the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of its citizens. He stated that natural rights were life, liberty, and property, and that all people automatically earned these simply by being born. When a government did not protect those rights, the citizen had the right to overthrow the government. These ideas were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. Once they took root in North America, the philosophy was adopted in other places as justification for revolution.
Locke believed that children are born with their mind a blank sheet of paper, a clean slate, a tabula rasa. He also maintained that children are potentially free and rational beings, and that the realization of these human qualities tends to be disillusioned through imposition of the sort of prejudice that perpetuates oppression and fallacy. Locke believed it was the upbringing and education that hindered the development of children's humanity. Locke noted two consequences of the doctrine of the tabula rasa: egalitarianism and vulnerability.
Locke believed the purpose of education was to produce an individual with a sound mind in a sound body so as to better serve his country. Locke thought that the content of education ought to depend upon one's station in life. The common man only required moral, social, and vocational knowledge. He could do quite well with the Bible and a highly developed vocational skill that would serve to support him in life and offer social service to others. However, the education of gentlemen ought to be of the very highest quality. The gentleman must serve his country in a position of leadership.
For gentlemen, Locke believed that the he must have a thorough knowledge of his own language. The schools of the Puritans in England broke with tradition completely. They sought to educate one for the society in which he would live. The schools were called, therefore, schools of social realism. Locke, in keeping with Milton and other Puritans, held that the content of the curriculum must serve some practical end. He recommended the introduction of contemporary foreign languages, history, geography, economics, math and science.
Locke proposed the following for the education of the gentleman:
a. Moral Training. All Christians must learn to live virtuously.
b. Good Breeding. The gentleman must develop the poise, control and outward behavior of excellent manners. Education must aim, therefore, at
developing correct social skills.
c. Wisdom. The gentleman ought to be able to apply intellectual and moral knowledge in governing his practical affairs.
d. Useful Knowledge. The gentleman must receive education which will lead to a successful life in the practical affairs of the society, as well as that which
leads to the satisfaction derived from scholarship and good books.
In his final years he lived in the country at Oates in Essex at the home of Sir Francis and Lady Masham. Before his death, Locke saw four more editions of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. He died at Oates in Essex on October 28, 1704.