John Locke
John Locke would change the thinking of many, and one day even shape the Declaration of Independence. He was quite a interesting thinker for his time, being that many were doing the exact opposite of what he was writing in his many essays and books. This showed John Locke had a determination to get his ideas out and maybe one day someone would follow.
In Wrington Somerset England, Locke was born on August 29th, 1632. His education proved quite strong for he went to many prestigious schools. The first school was Westiminster, he attended while his father, a lawyer, went to the civil war of 1640. His education here was sponsored by Alexand Popham who was a member of parliament. He attended Westiminster in 1647 and soon was given the access to Christ Church Oxford. At CCO, he learned his love for philosophy, and studied many of the philosophers before him. He also studied metaphysics which is a traditional branch in philosophy which explains nature and the being of the world, medicine, which is the study of healthcare, diagnostic, treating and preventing disease, logic, the study of valid reasoning, and classic language which usually refers to classical literature such as Ancient Greek, and Latin writings. He finally received his bachelors degree in 1656, then two years later his masters degree. Then in 1674 he was given his bachelors degree in medicine. Something that is quite interesting is Locke worked with Robert Hooke, Robert Doyle, Thomas
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Willis, and Richard Lower. With his new sense of education Locke set out into the world and would soon meet the Earl of Shaftsbury.
Locke met Anthony Ashley Cooper a English politician who was prominent during King Charles II reign. Who would be known as The Earl of Shaftsbury. Shaftsbury was one of the founders of the British Whig Party. Not to be confused with the later American founded Whig Party. The British Whig party started off as a faction but soon became a political party in the parliaments of England, Great Britain, Scotland and the United Kingdom. The Leader was Charles James Fox. The Whigs rejected the divine right to rule, absolute power, opposed the Catholic Church, because in their eye it was a threat to liberty, they believed in constitutional monarchism, a democratic type form of government where the monarch isn’t the head of state and aren’t allowed the right to set public policy or choose political leaders, this type of government can also be referred to as limited monarchy.
The Whigs had a strong influence on Locke and can be seen very prominently in his writings. Locke began his work on The Two Treatises of Government, a writing that would illustrate Locke’s political views such as every human’s natural rights, how a government should only exist with the consent of free people and to protect, and to protect the people from foreign injury and if this government doesn’t do so people get the option to revolt and get a new government. He also discusses how a man would leave nature where he is free to live about his life to be governed. Locke released all these controversial ideas at a bad time, with England on the brink of revolution they targeted Locke and forced him to flee to the neighboring country of Holland.