When John Locke died in 1704, he left an escritoire filled with his personal papers to his cousin Peter King, who rose to be Lord Chancellor of England.
Locke, by virtue of his temperament and mode of existence, was a man of great circumspection. He seldom spoke in the House of Lords. But he was an active pamphleteer on behalf of ecclesiastical and monetary reform. When he made his ideas publicly known, they were considered impractical and eccentric. At a later stage however, they were appreciated.
Locke was a shrewd sycophant from his very youth. Colonel Alexander Popham, his friend and patron, was with Locke at Oxford. After being in Oxford for some time, Colonel Popham left for London. Locke was a regular correspondent and wrote many flattering letters to his patron. In one such letter he assured his friend, Colonel Popham by saying, "Sir, to say I am obliged to you is no more than to profess myself an Englishman… The whole nation looks on you as a defender of its law and liberties." He further added in his letter that he would like to be of some or the other use to his patron. Undoubtedly, Locke involved himself in flattery.
Birth
The founder of Empiricism, John Locke was born on 29th August, 1632 at Wrington in Somerset. He was the son of John Locke Sr, an attorney and a small landowner, and Agnes Locke. John Locke Sr served as captain in the parliamentary army during the Civil War. As a child, Locke was raised in a restrained, bookish environment. His father was stern and taciturn in nature. As the future philosopher came of age, he found a friend in his father. The views of John Locke Sr on every aspect of life are reflected in his philosophy.
Education
However, the political unrest did not affect John’s education. Interesting circumstances paved path for a great mind to florish and develop. At the end of the Civil War, Colonel Popham of parliamentary army wanted to reward his captain in his own way. He selected to help him in a way that perhaps the entire mankind should be thankgul to him for his help. He was in position to nominate names for some distinguished foundations. Colonel Popham suggested name of young John Locke for the renowned Westminster School. The 15 year old boy entered Westminster School in 1647 and remained there for six years. However, he could not live there as a boarder as the school allowed only King's Scholars as boarders. It took about three years for John to enter the league and become a King's Scholar in 1650. The ‘minor’ election as it was called, could lead to a ‘major’ election to a scholarship at Christ Church, Oxford, or Trinity College, Cambridge. Other geniuses like John Dryden and Joseph Williamson were his contemporaries at Westminster. It was during his second year at Westminster School, that King Charles I was beheaded nearby at Whitehall.
At Oxford
Locke joined Christ Church, Oxford, in 1652. Initially, John was very much impressed with the place, but later on the place lost its charm, though he always respected it as a land of learning and learned. He made an appearance in print when he was 22, in 1654. The war was over and Charles II had escaped to France.Locke had commemorated the victory by writing an ode to Colonel Popham. He was encouraged to write two poems in the honor of the Lord Protector. One was in Latin and the other in English. The English one was in rhyming couplets, which ran –
If Greece with so much mirth did entertain
Her Argo, coming laden home again,
With what loud mirth and triumph shall we greet
The wish’d approaches of our welcome fleet,
When of that prize our ships do us possess
Whereof their fleece was but on emblem – peace….
Loss Of His Mother
Life was taking its normal course until the autumn of 1654, when Locke’s mother was taken ill on a visit to her relations at Wrington. On October 4, she died in the little cottage where Locke was born. He was present at the funeral. On his return to Oxford, he witnessed the outbreak of small pox. He spent his vacation at Pensford, but was bored without company. However, his father had some acquaintances, to which he was introduced. In September, he wrote to a friend at Hart Hall, named Samuel Tilly, "If in friendship there be any sympathy you cannot but be sensible what I suffer in the absence from that place where you are." John Locke’s boredom neared its end, when he graduated as Bachelor of Arts in February 1656. After two years, he secured the degree of M A on June 28, 1658
At Royal Society
He was elected a senior student of Christ Church, where he taught Greek and Moral Philosophy. In order to retain his fellowship, he had to be ordained. But he switched over to medicine. Around the same time, he made a new acquaintance with Robert Boyle, a distinguished scientist and one of the founders of the Royal Society. Locke took up the study of natural science under Boyle’s direction. In 1668, Locke was ultimately made a fellow of the Royal Society.
Growing Contacts
Locke was simultaneously involved with other activities. In 1665, he traveled to the continent as secretary to the English Ambassador to the Brandenburg Court. After he returned to England, he had an opportunity to medically attend Lord Ashley, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, and later Lord Chancellor of England. Their friendship led Locke to the politics of the day. He also attended upon Lord Ashley as an adviser; it was in this capacity that he drafted The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina. He even served as secretary to the Board of Trade.
Later Years
Locke faced health problems and left for France for a change in 1676. As an inheritance from his father made him financially independent, he resided at Montpellier, France for three years. On his return to England, he rejoined the service of Shaftesbury. However, due to political reasons, Shaftesbury fled to Holland, where Locke accompanied him. Locke remained there from 1683 to 1689. During these years, he was deprived of his studentship by express order of Charles II. He composed most of his writings during this period. Locke returned to England after the Glorious Revolution of 1689. He then served as Commissioner of Trade till 1700. He went to Oates, Essex, where he spent his retirement, as a guest of the Mashams. Lady Masham was the daughter of philosopher Ralph Cudworth. Locke died at the home of Mashams on October 28, 1704. Lady Masham, on his death, wrote: "His death was like his life, truly pious, yet natural, easy and unaffected."
His will read : "My will is to be buried as privately as with decency maybe, particularly my will is to be buried in a plain wooden coffin not covered with cloth or any otherwise adorned : that cost will be better laid out in covering poor...". The man with so much compassion and goodwill in heart was laid to rest as per his wish in the churchyard of High Laver.
"New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common." The writer had to undergo a similar phase in life, when he emerged with his ideas. John Locke, the founder of the Age of Reason and Empiricism was not widely accepted when he first came out with his opinions, but later on, the public came to accept those very ideals and philosophical principles at large.
John Locke was interested in the philosophy applied by Descartes. Locke preached philosophy, which varied from education to religion and from politics to moral philosophy.
A shrewd courtier, Locke was an affectionate person, evident from his relation with his father and friends. His Oxford University education, and the acquaintances he made in his life–time broadened his knowledge. Creativity and innovation were innate to him.
August 29, 1632 : John Locke was born at Wrington, Somerset, England.
1647 : Attended Westminster School.
1652 : Attended Christ Church, Oxford.
1659 : Elected to Senior scholarship.
1674 : Received a bachelor’s degree in medicine.
1690 : Wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding; Two Treatises of Government.
1693 : Wrote Some Thoughts Concerning Education.
1696 : 1700 - He was a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations.
October 28, 1704 : He passed away at Essex, England.
The results of patience and experience are often fruitful. John Locke spent his last years publishing works, which had been the consequence of long years of gestation. His major works were not published until he was 60 years old.Two Treatises of Government and the Essay Concerning Human Understanding were published in 1690. The Treatises was the fruit of years of reflection upon the true principles in politics.
The first of Locke’s Two Treatises corresponds in some manner to the argument of Patriarcha Non Monarcha, by Richard Janeway. Locke claimed that scriptures gave no authority for thinking that a father had an absolute authority over his children. Therefore, the absolute authority of a prince could not be deduced from that premise. Locke further said that princes were only metaphorically and not literally the fathers of their people. He pointed out that since everybody descended from Adam, no one man’s particular title to rule another could be based on his descent from Adam.
In his Second Treatise, Locke discussed about the true ‘origin’ of political power. He rejected the notion that government is the product only of force and violence. Locke claimed to find the origin of civil society in a form of social contract. He believed that it was a fact of history that men had once lived in a condition of primitive anarchy. They came together and instituted governments for the promotion of their common interests. He further said that even before the creation of governments there had been one king of law: Natural Law. The opinion of Locke on Natural Law is :
"The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions."
For men being all the workmanship of one omnipotent and infinitely Wise Maker, all the servants of one sovereign Master, sent into the world by his order, and about his business, they are his property, whose workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one another’s pleasure; and being furnished with like faculties, sharing all in one community of nature, there cannot be supposed any such subordination among us that may authorize us to destroy one another, as if we were made for one another’s uses, as the inferior ranks of creatures are for ours.
• Second Treatise, II, 6.
In his other work, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, the opening lines begin with an unequivocal assertion of Empiricism :
"I imagine that all knowledge is founded on and ultimately derives itself from sense, or something analogous to it, which may be called sensation."
The influence of Descartes is obvious in the manner Locke set about his task. He said, he proposed, "to enquire into the original certainty, and extent of human knowledge."
Locke then dealt with the question, "How do ideas come to our minds ?" The later part of the Essay began with a refutation of the doctrine that certain principles were innate. Certain principles have been thought to be innate only because men cannot remember when they first learnt them. Locke believed that we are born in total ignorance and that even our theoretical ideas of identity, quantity and substance are derived from experience. Locke defended the belief that everything, which he called an ‘idea’, was derived from sen
Locke thought that some sort of epistemological credential could be provided for knowledge by tracing it back to its origins in sensing. He thus linked ‘originals’ to ‘certainty’ and ‘extent’. This preoccupation with ‘certainty’ and ‘extent’ was the very characteristic of the Cartesian mind. There was something alien to empiricism in Locke’s whole aim of determining in advance the limits of human knowledge.
‘Idea’ was perhaps the most important word in the Essay. Locke opined that we have ideas in our minds when we see, hear, smile, taste or feel. The core of his epistemology was the notion that the objects of perception are not things, but ideas, which are derived in part from things in the external world, but which also, depend to some extent in our own minds for their existence.
sation, though he admitted that idea may also be produced by what he called reflection – "remembering, considering, reasoning, etc."
Locke’s works were thus the product of a long period of experience and deep thought, which came out in the form of Two Treatises of Government and Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
It is ambition enough to be employed as an under-laborer in clearing the ground a little and removing some of the rubbish that lies in the way of knowledge.
A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full description of a happy state in this world : he that has these two, has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will be little the better for anything else.
Good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature : these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work and guided.
The improvement of understanding is for two ends : first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others.
Virtue is harder to be got than knowledge of the world; and if lost in a young man, is seldom recovered.
The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.
Wherever law ends, Tyranny begins.
Law, in its proper Notion, is the Direction of a free and intelligent Agent to his proper interest.
