Born on 29th august 1632, John Locke is considered the proponent of British Empiricism and arguably the most influential thinker of his day. The influences of Locke’s philosophies can be seen in a number of significant events that occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries and he is regarded as one of the founders of democratic thought and mode of governance. His philosophies have inspired revolutions such as the American and later French revolutions and his ideas echoed both in the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of Human Rights 1789. He had inspired the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers and his monumental works spawned ideas that had overbearing influences in both epistemology and political philosophy. (Aaron, 25).
His ideas on the human mind influenced the works of future philosophers such as David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Rousseau, and Voltaire to name a few. During the course of his life, Locke was surrounded by some of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the era such as Newton, Thomas Sydenham, Boyle, and Hooke. His area of expertise encompassed economics, religion, politics, medicine, and natural sciences.
In addition, all the while he was witness to one of the most critical eras in the history of Britain in particular and Europe in general.
The tyranny of Louis XIV of France helped him in developing his ideas on religious tolerance, the Glorious or Bloodless Revolution of 1688, which in a way justified his political ideology. Indeed the revolution in itself was initiated by his revolutionary ideas. As a distinguished member of the board of trade in Britain, he was the secretary of the council of and plantations; he had a major role in the drafting of the Fundamental Constitution of the Carolinas in conjunction with Anthony Ashley Cooper, the First Earl of Shaftesbury. (Heyd, 68-70).
His ideas on the natural rights of man and social contract influenced Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other founding fathers of the United States. When evaluated from a historical point of view, one can conclude that Locke not only managed to propose but also was able to orchestrate a new system of civil governance as is evident in the success of the glorious revolution. He and his ideas were the focal points of discussion in those turbulent and indeed beautiful times. (Jeffreys, 105).
Locke was much a product of his times as he was a product of his own unique, revolutionary ideas. That is because he studied his times and chose to flow against the flow of existing ideologies to propose a cure for the maladies afflicting his times. He was witness to events of religious intolerance, tyrannical authority, and despotic governments. The ideas he proposed proved that exceptions do not break the rule but go on to prove them. He differed in his views with most of the existing philosophers or the ones prior to him. One of the focal points of Locke’s political ideologies was anti-authoritarianism, both on individualistic and institutional fronts. (Heyd, 68-70).
He distinguished between legitimate and illegitimate forms of civil government and tried to use reason to understand the functioning of a legitimate government and thereby establish the fact that the basic function of a government was to ensure the protection of the natural rights of humans that is to observe natural law and establish and maintain a natural state. Locke expressed his political views in his Two Treatises of Government. His views on religion and spirituality were expressed in his Letters Concerning Toleration and The Reasonableness of Christianity and Some Thoughts Concerning Education dealt with his views on education.
In his monumental work An Essay concerning Human Understanding, Locke mentions in Book II that the human mind is like a blank sheet or tabula rosa, on which experience makes marks that produce a simple idea, which in turn is at the core of the genesis of knowledge. This belief was contrary to both the Christian and Cartesian philosophies.
The very same idea was postulated by Rousseau when he said that the human mind is inherently good or in the development of Kantian ethics. The book in itself marks the beginning of modern conceptions about self. In the process, Locke antagonized both the Aristotelian and Socrates’ philosophies. Though he held Descartes’ philosophies with high regard, he begged to differ in certain aspects and in himself postulated his own theory. (Jeffreys, 96).
The other major contribution was indeed his work on civil governance in his two treatises of government in which he postulates the definition of political power, the bases of legitimate governments, grounds for legitimate revolutions and addresses issues such as war, slavery, and the differences between paternal, political and despotic power. This monumental work laid the foundations for future democracies, societies in which the natural rights of man namely, liberty, life, health, and property are protected by the government. In doing this, he not only justified the purpose of the glorious revolution but also antagonized the totalitarian ideologies of Sir Robert Filmer and Thomas Hobbes. His ideas were revolutionary and pioneering in that era. At the time when the treatises were being formulated, Locke was in exile in Holland and returned to Britain with Mary, the wife of William of Orange, after the revolution had taken place and William had assumed power. (Jeffreys, 101).
Locke’s work in Letter Concerning Tolerance was also monumental and of epic proportions. Locke, as indeed most of Britain and Europe, we’re witness to the atrocities committed by Louis XIV in France. Louis had revoked the Edict of Nantes and used the state machinery to promote the persecution of Detractors of the Catholic Church. England itself was witness to religious intolerance and state-approved persecution of both Catholic and Protestant sects by the state’s Anglican Church. Locke had introduced tolerance in the Fundamental Constitution of the Carolinas and his views on this subject reciprocated his views on civil governance. He postulated that the only job of the state is to ensure the natural rights of man and so the choice of belief or salvation of man within the state is not under the jurisdiction of the state and any government or its representative who forces his will on to others would do so illegitimately. He postulated that the state and the church are two different entities and established that apart from life, health, property, and liberty the choice of one’s religious belief was his natural right. (Aaron, 117).
Locke’s empiricist ideas have been debated by rationalists and Kantian ethics was the first model, which tried to encapsulate both because Kant thought that free will could not act out of reason or experience alone. Locke’s ideas on issues such as slavery have also come under fire with some critics arguing that because of his position on the board for the trade he might have been a bit conservative on the subject and had indeed tried to justify the practice. This is not entirely true. If that had been the case then Locke would not have taken pains to explain legitimate slavery in the manner that he did. Another argument is that Locke tried to conceptualize just wars in such a way as to justify slavery.
This also is untrue because Locke had himself postulated the powers of a just conqueror and his theories on slavery and conquests had always condemned the usurpation of a man’s natural rights by another person and accounted to despotic rule. Another piece of Locke’s work that has come under a lot of scrutinies is his work on the property. What establishes private property and how much of a property can be owned by a person. Socialists and communists have equally targeted this theory saying that it was pro-capitalist, advocating endless accumulation of wealth. Another argument, in Locke’s favor, is that it is the natural instinct of man to protect himself first and then give on to the society. (Aaron, 78-81).
In other words, Locke was a promoter and powerful critic of self-interest. Certain critics had also targeted Locke and his followers on the extent of influence of Locke’s ideas in the American war for independence and these have been reaffirmed recently. Overall, the fact that Locke had considerable intellectual clout among his peers and the future generations is what sets him apart.
References
Aaron, Richard Ithamar; John Locke; Clarendon Press, 1971.
Heyd, Thomas; John Locke: A descriptive bibliography; Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences; Volume 35, Issue 1 , Pages 68 – 70; John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1999.
Jeffreys, MVC; John Locke: Prophet of Common Sense: Prophet of Common Sense; Methuen, 1967.