The Adventures of

John Locke

By: Jessica Buchman

The start:

John Locke was born on the 29th of August in England in 1632. He

died in October 28th, 1704.
He was raised by both of his parents, his father, a country lawyer
and man that severed in the military during
the English Civil War. Unfortunately his mother died during his
infancy.
At the age of fourteen he attended Westminster
school and later went to Christ Church in Oxford.
Locke had an outstanding education, at Christ
Church, this was the start of something great.
During his time at this school, he devoured his
time into logics and metaphysics. He returned
to his beloved school two years after
graduating for a Master of Arts.

The English Royal Society

John Lockes great mentor, Robert Boyle was

the leader if the Oxford Scientific Group. Boyle
had a mechanical philosophy and was also
associated with the great Newton.

A Push in the Right

Direction:

In 1674, he graduated with his bachelors of

medicine. During this time he met with several
intellectuals that had helped him curve his path
into what he wanted to accomplish.
Lord Ashley, aka, Earl of Shaftsbury was one of the
firsts. He influenced Lockes decision to move to
London and pursue a career as a personal
physician.
Shaftsbury had taken on the rule of Chancellor and
Locke followed through with political and business
duties and became his secretary of presentations.

An Essay Concerning Human

Understanding

This was an essay that Locke had been working on for

nineteen years.
It was a detailed book, containing four individual
sections titled to other sections.
This was about structuring a foundation understanding
of human knowledge.
The first book, Of Innate Ideas was a difference of
opinion on Cartesians view on knowledge. Locke wanted
to create his own human experience and define how it
does or doesnt relate to Cartesian position of human
beings born with certain ideas already in their mind.

Cont.

Book II is all about Lockes theories and how ones

mind cant be predetermined, it must be gathered
through either a route it takes to arrive in our mind,
or through our senses.
Book III is where the philosophy comes into play and
Lockes ideas are strictly of the philosophy of the
mind. He wonders if there are any natural kinds in
the world, or is everyone corrupted.
Finally, Book IV is the theory of knowledge. Locke
wants to determine how relation, actual existence,
coexistence, diversity/identity are related.

The Right to Private

Property

This comes from his political theory that we

should all have what is ours.
He says that men originally exists in a state
of nature in which he needs to answer only to
the laws of nature.
This means that if were waiting for the corn to
grow in a corn field, we cannot plow because
we are tired of waiting. We must simply wait
for the corn to be produced.

Cont.

Anything that one produced from their

physical labor was theirs to keep.
You didnt have to sell your goods, you worked
hard for your goods, he believed that you
should keep them.
Although not everyone agreed with this and
thought to violate the natural laws.

Influences:

Locke was a influencer, he views helped

Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of
Independence.
During the time of the Enlightenment, Lockes
ideas were greatly resourceful.
He had positive outlooks on life which
resulted in the pursuit of happiness.
But the biggest one of all was his strong
influence on Voltaire.

Benefits for the 21 Cent.

st

Peter Gay mentioned that John Locke was the

founder of the Enlightenment in education as
in much else.
He gave us the right for private property
The Natural Foundation of Reason

Websites used:

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ki-Lo/Locke-John.html

http://www.biography.com/people/john-locke-9384544#synopsis

http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/biographies/john-locke/

http://www.history.com/topics/john-locke

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/influence.html