John Locke 1632 – 1704
John Locke (1632 – 1704) was an English philosopher of the Modern era, associated with Empiricism, Enlightenment, and Social Contract.
John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. In the Essay Concerning Human Understanding he argued that the mind begins as a tabula rasa, with all knowledge derived from experience. His Two Treatises of Government grounded political authority in natural rights and the consent of the governed, shaping modern liberal democracy. He contributed significantly to theories of personal identity, religious toleration, and education. His ideas influenced the American Declaration of Independence and the framers of the United States Constitution.
John Locke (1632–1704) was the founding figure of the British empiricist tradition and one of the most influential political theorists in modern history. Trained as a physician, he served as personal physician and political adviser to Anthony Ashley Cooper, the first Earl of Shaftesbury, and was deeply involved in the Whig politics of the late seventeenth century.
Locke's two great works appeared within a year of each other. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) developed the empiricist account of mind: the mind at birth is a blank slate, all ideas come from sensation or reflection, and the proper method of philosophy is the careful analysis of the ideas and operations of the understanding. The Two Treatises of Government (1689) developed the contractarian account of political legitimacy: government exists to protect natural rights of life, liberty, and property, and may be revoked when it violates the trust on which it rests.
Locke's political philosophy shaped the American Declaration of Independence and the broader Anglo-American liberal tradition; his epistemology shaped Berkeley, Hume, and the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. He spent the last decade of his life at Oates in Essex as a guest of Lady Masham. His writings on toleration, education, and the philosophical-medical practice of his day round out the body of work.
Key facts
- Nationality
- English
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Empiricism, Enlightenment, Social Contract
Selected quotes
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“No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.”
Book II, Ch. 1, sec. 19 -
“All mankind being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”
Second Treatise of Government , Ch. II, sec. 6 -
“The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.”
Second Treatise of Government , Ch. VI, sec. 57 -
“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.”
As quoted in "Hand Book : Caution and Counsels" in The Common School Journal Vol. 5, No. 24 (15 December 1843) by Horace Mann , p. 371 -
“Where there is no law, there is no freedom.”
Second Treatise of Government , Ch. VI, sec. 57
John Locke by topic
John Locke vs other philosophers
Three-way comparisons including John Locke
Frequently asked about John Locke
- When did John Locke live?
- John Locke was born in 1632 and died in 1704.
- Where was John Locke from?
- John Locke was an English philosopher of the Modern era.
- What philosophical movements is John Locke associated with?
- John Locke was associated with Empiricism, Enlightenment, and Social Contract.
- What was John Locke known for?
- John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers.
- How many quotes are attributed to John Locke?
- There are 17 attributed quotations from John Locke in the 1001Philosophers collection, organized by topic.
Quotes that are not actually from John Locke
These lines are widely circulated as John Locke, but they do not appear in John Locke's works. Each entry below identifies the actual source.
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“That which is static and repetitive is boring. That which is dynamic and random is confusing. In between lies art.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: This statement has been attributed to John A. Locke, but John Locke did not have a middle name. The words "dynamic," "boring" and "repetitive," found in this quote, were not yet in use in Locke's time. (See The Online Etymology Dictionary .) John A. Locke is listed on one site as having lived from 1
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“The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: This might be a paraphrase of some of Locke's expressions or ideas, but the earliest publication of the statement in this form seems to be one made in Oversight Hearing on the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act (1997).
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“We are like chameleons; we take our hue and the color of our moral character from those who are around us.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: Attributed to Locke on various quotes sites and on social media, this quotation is a false rendering of "We are all a sort of chameleons, that still take a tincture from things near us: nor is it to be wondered at in children, who better understand what they see, than what they hear" from Some Thoug