John Locke (1632 - 1704)

John Locke is an English philosopher and physician whose theories tie with many other great philosophers such as Sir Issac Newton and Immanual Kant. John proposed further ideas to the previous theories of empiricism, the social contract theory, and political liberalism. Locke was grounded in the idea that the mind is just like a blank piece of paper at birth, and that it is knowledge gained from the senses of the world that form who we are. Although it may seem like an obvious statement, it is a deeper look into the fact that every human to exist only knows what they do due one's own experience and reflection of society. A very intelligent idea in one of John's seminal works is in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding''. Locke argues that all ideas originate from experience and that the mind uses the experiences through reflection. Locke puts the categories of human knowledge into two main types which is sensation and reflection. Sensation allows the human mind to gain information about the world around us through touch, taste, sound, and sight. Reflection allows the mind to internally observe the workings of our own minds. Reflection is essential for attaining knowledge. Locke has many more theories such as Locke's social contract theory. This states that one must consent to some form of government to protect their natural rights. If the government fails to do so, citizens have the right to overthrow it. This idea affected modern democratic thought, especially in French and American revolutions. Many of Locke's theories affected political movements all the way to the present day. Although there were not many of his ideas he brought that were completely original, he added great contribution to many pre existing theories and bettered them for many political leaders and philosophers in the present day.