John Locke

John Locke

English philosopher, sometimes called the "intellectual leader of the 18th century."
Date of Birth: 29.08.1632
Country: Great Britain

Content:
  1. Biography of John Locke
  2. Early Life and Education
  3. Development of Liberalism
  4. Later Years and Legacy

Biography of John Locke

John Locke was an English philosopher, often referred to as the "intellectual leader of the 18th century" and the first philosopher of the Enlightenment. His theories of knowledge and social philosophy had a profound impact on the history of culture and society, particularly on the development of the American constitution.

Early Life and Education

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in Wrington, Somerset, England, into a family of a judicial official. His father fought in the civil war on the side of the Parliament, which led to Locke being admitted to Westminster School at the age of 15. While his family was Anglican, they held Puritan (Independent) views. At Westminster, Locke found a strong advocate of royalist ideas in Richard Busby, who continued to lead the school despite the oversight of parliamentary leaders. In 1652, Locke enrolled at Christ Church, Oxford University. By the time of the Stuart Restoration, his political views could be described as royalist and largely aligned with those of Thomas Hobbes. Locke excelled academically and after obtaining his master's degree in 1658, he was elected as a fellow of the college. However, he soon became disillusioned with Aristotelian philosophy, which he was supposed to teach, and turned to medicine, assisting in natural science experiments conducted by Robert Boyle and his students. However, he did not achieve any significant results in this field, and when he returned from a diplomatic mission to the Brandenburg court, he was denied the doctorate in medicine he sought. At the age of 34, he met a man who would greatly influence his life - Lord Ashley, later the first Earl of Shaftesbury, who was not yet a leader of the opposition. Shaftesbury was an advocate of liberty at a time when Locke still held absolutist views similar to those of Hobbes. However, by 1666, Locke's position had changed and he became closer to Shaftesbury's views. Shaftesbury and Locke saw kindred spirits in each other. A year later, Locke left Oxford and took on the role of physician, advisor, and tutor in the Shaftesbury household in London.

Development of Liberalism

Shaftesbury had a materialistic view and was passionate about trade. He understood better than his contemporaries the wealth, both national and personal, that could be gained by freeing entrepreneurs from medieval exactions and taking other bold steps. Religious tolerance allowed Dutch merchants to prosper, and Shaftesbury believed that if the English put an end to religious disputes, they could create an empire that would not only surpass the Dutch, but also rival the possessions of Rome. While Shaftesbury was interested in practical matters, Locke was focused on developing the same political line in theory, justifying the philosophy of liberalism that expressed the interests of the emerging capitalism. From 1675 to 1679, he lived in France (in Montpellier and Paris), where he studied the ideas of Gassendi and his school, and also carried out a number of commissions for Shaftesbury. It turned out that Locke's theories had a revolutionary future, as both Charles II and his successor James II turned to the traditional concept of monarchical rule to justify their policy of tolerating and even promoting Catholicism in England. After an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Restoration regime, Shaftesbury, who had been imprisoned in the Tower of London and subsequently acquitted by a London court, fled to Amsterdam where he soon died. Trying to continue his teaching career at Oxford, Locke traveled to the Netherlands in 1683 with his patron. He lived there from 1683 to 1689, and in 1685 he was listed as a traitor (participant in the Monmouth Rebellion) and subject to extradition to the English government. Locke did not return to England until the successful landing of William of Orange on the English coast in 1688 and the flight of James II. Returning to his homeland on the same ship as the future Queen Mary II, Locke published his work "Two Treatises of Government" (1689) shortly after, in which he presented the theory of revolutionary liberalism. Becoming a classic in the history of political thought, this book also played an important role, according to its author, in "justifying the right of King William to be our ruler." In this book, Locke introduced the concept of a social contract, according to which the only true foundation of sovereign power is the consent of the people. If a ruler fails to justify the trust placed in him, people have the right and even the duty to stop obeying him. In other words, people have the right to rebellion. But how to determine when a ruler ceases to serve the people? According to Locke, this moment occurs when the ruler transitions from a rule based on firm principles to a "changeable, unbounded, and arbitrary" rule. The majority of Englishmen believed that such a moment occurred when James II began to implement a pro-Catholic policy in 1688. Locke himself, along with Shaftesbury and his circle, believed that this moment had already occurred under Charles II in 1682 when the manuscript of the "Two Treatises" was created.

Later Years and Legacy

Locke marked his return to England in 1689 by publishing another work closely related to the Treatises, namely the "First Letter Concerning Toleration" (written mostly in 1685). He wrote the text in Latin (Epistola de Tolerantia), intending to publish it in the Netherlands, and by chance, the English translation included a preface (written by the translator, Unitarian William Popple) proclaiming that "absolute freedom... is what we need." Locke himself did not support absolute freedom. From his point of view, Catholics deserved persecution because they swore loyalty to a foreign ruler, the Pope; and atheists because their oaths could not be trusted. As for everyone else, the state should leave it to each person to find salvation on their own path. In the "Letter Concerning Toleration," Locke argued against the traditional view that secular power has the right to impose true faith and true morality. He wrote that force can only make people pretend, but not believe. Strengthening morality (in matters that do not affect the safety of the country or the preservation of peace) is the duty not of the state, but of the church. Locke himself was a Christian and adhered to Anglicanism. But his personal symbol of faith was remarkably concise, consisting of a single judgment: Christ is the Messiah. In ethics, he was a hedonist and believed that the natural goal of human life is happiness, and that the New Testament showed people the path to happiness in this life and in eternal life. Locke saw his task as warning people who seek happiness in short-term pleasures, which later lead to suffering.

Returning to England during the "Glorious" Revolution, Locke initially intended to take up his position at Oxford University from which he had been dismissed by Charles II's orders in 1684 after his departure to the Netherlands. However, finding that the position had been given to someone else, he abandoned this idea and spent the remaining 15 years of his life conducting scientific research and serving in government. Soon, Locke realized that he was gaining fame not for his political writings, which were published anonymously, but as the author of "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," first published in 1690 but largely written between 1671 and 1686. The Essay went through several editions during the author's lifetime, with the final fifth edition, including corrections and additions, being published in 1706, after Locke's death. It can be said without exaggeration that Locke was the first modern thinker. His way of reasoning sharply differed from the thinking of medieval philosophers. The consciousness of medieval man was filled with thoughts of the afterlife. Locke's mind was practical, empirical; it was the mind of an enterprising person, even of an ordinary person: "What is the use," he asked, "of poetry?" He lacked the patience to delve into the intricacies of Christian religion. He did not believe in miracles and had an aversion to mysticism. He did not believe in people who claimed to be saints or in those who constantly thought about paradise and hell. Locke believed that people should fulfill their obligations in the world they live in. "Our lot," he wrote, "is here, in this little place on Earth, and neither we nor our concerns are destined to leave its boundaries."

While Locke did not despise London society, in which he moved due to the success of his writings, he found it hard to tolerate the city's stuffy atmosphere. He suffered from asthma for most of his life, and after the age of sixty, he suspected that he was suffering from consumption. In 1691, he accepted an invitation to settle in a country house in Oates, Essex - an invitation from Lady Masham, the wife of a member of parliament and the daughter of Cambridge Platonist Ralph Cudworth. However, Locke did not allow himself to fully relax in the cozy home atmosphere; in 1696, he became a commissioner for trade and colonies, which required him to regularly appear in the capital. By that time, he had become an intellectual leader of the Whigs, and many parliamentarians and statesmen frequently sought his advice and requests. Locke participated in monetary reform and contributed to the abolition of the law that restricted freedom of the press. He was one of the founders of the Bank of England. In Oates, Locke focused on the education of Lady Masham's son and corresponded with Leibniz. It was also the place where he was visited by Isaac Newton, with whom they discussed the writings of the Apostle Paul. However, in this last period of his life, his main occupation became the preparation for the publication of numerous works, ideas for which he had nurtured before. Among Locke's works are "A Second Letter Concerning Toleration" (1700), "A Third Letter for Toleration" (1692), "Some Thoughts Concerning Education" (1693), "The Reasonableness of Christianity, as Delivered in the Scriptures" (1695), and many others. In 1700, Locke resigned from all his positions and retired to Oates. John Locke passed away on October 28, 1704, in Lady Masham's house.

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