John Locke was a British philosopher that had wide spread influence among the Enlightenment thinkers of the 17th century. Known for challenging the idea of an innate human nature, Locke was the first philosopher to define the self via a continuity of consciousness, rather than a born identity.
Fast Facts:
- Born: August 29, 1632 in Wrington, Somerset
- Educated at Christ Church College
- 1679 was suspected of radicalism by the government and forced to move to Holland
- Developed the idea that humans were born a "blank slate"
- Wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding
- Wrote on Ethical Theory in his essay The Reasonableness of Christianity in [[1695]
Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa was a seminal theory conjured by John Locke based on the idea that people are not born with innate ideas, as was the traditional doctrine of the day influenced by the Christian Church. Locke believed that knowledge was sprung from sensation, which proceeds to reflection. The theory included two qualities: (i) the primarily qualities of things and (ii) secondary qualities (such as sound and color). Locke believed that since the impact of the world effects the senses, action produces ideas that represent a reality.
John Locke Timeline
August 29, 1632: Born
1660: Befriends chemist Robert Boyle
1667: Becomes personal physician to Anthony Ashley Cooper, first Earl of Shaftesbury
1683 - 1689: Exile in Holland
1688: Essay Concerning Human Understanding published
1689: Meets and befriends Isaac Newton
1690: Two Treatises of Civil Government published
1696: Appointed to Board of Trade which regulated British colonial holdings overseas
October 28, 1704: Death
