John Locke, the Philosopher

John Locke, the Philosopher (1632-1704)

The epitaph he wrote on his tombstone:

JOHN LOCKE, Ob. A.D. 1704


          "Stop Traveler!  Near this place lieth John Locke.
          If you ask what kind of a man he was, he answers
          that he lived content with his own small fortune.
          Bred a scholar, he made his learning subservient 
          only to the cause of truth.  This thou will learn
          from his writings, which will show thee everything
          else concerning him, with greater truth, than the
          suspected praises of an epitaph.  His virtues,
          indeed, if he had any, were too little for him to
          propose as matter of praise to himself, or as an
          example to thee.  Let his vices be buried together.
          As to an example of manners, if you seek that,
          you have it in the Gospels; of vices, I wish you
          have one nowhere; if mortality, certainly,
          (and may it profit thee,) thou hast one here 
          and everywhere." (translated from the Latin)

Extract from a poem on the Progress of Science, delivered at Harvard College, April 21, 1780, by the Hon. Samuel Dexter:


               "In Metaphysics, too, a Locke we find,
               Unfolding the recesses of the mind,
               Teaching mankind the great Creator's plan;
               Yet less admire the author than the man.
               Great in himself, he could with pleasure leave
               The tinsel'd greatness that a Court can give,
               Refuse a place -- a pension, and retire,
               From glitt'ring pomp, to fan celestial fire."

This chart shows how John Locke and William Locke were 1st cousins !

Sir William Locke ( -1550) | | Michael Locke | | Matthew Locke | | Christopher Locke | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | Sarah Christopher John Honour Christian Lewis William (1587- ) (1593- ) (1595-1645) (1597- ) (1601- ) (1606- ) ( - ) m.Nicholas | | Davies | | (1595- ) John Locke William (1632-1704) (1628-1720) (the philosopher) (of Woburn)

A summary of his life...

Captain John Locke, son of Christopher Locke, was killed at Bristol as Captain of the foot (guard) in the Civil wars of Charles I. He had 2 sons, one of whom died a child, and the other who became the celebrated philosopher.

John Locke, Esq. was born at Wrington (8 miles from East Brent) on August 29, 1632. Immediately upon the death of his father in 1645 at 13 years, he was sent to Westminster School, and then moved on to Christ-Church College, Oxford in 1651; took his Bachelor of Arts in 1655 and Master of Arts in 1658.

became Secretary to Sir William Swan, an English Envoy to one of the foreign courts in 1664 (age 32)
travelled with the Earl of Northumberland in 1668 (36)
began to write his essays on "Human Understanding" in 1670 (38)
made Fellow of the Royal Society in 1671 (39)
Secretary of the Presentations under Lord Chancellor Cowper in 1672 (40)
Secretary to a Commission of Trade in 1673 (41)
took degree of Bachelor of Physik in 1674 (42)
travelled to France in 1675 (43)
became a courtier under the Earl of Shaftsbury in 1679 (47)
was prosecuted for libeling the government in 1682 (50)
deprived of all preferments, even his student's place at Christ-Church College in 1683. (51)
By the application of William Penn to King James II, he might have received his pardon on pleading guilty, which he refused with this memorable saying, "He had committed no crime, and therefore should not plead guilty."
In 1685 (52) he fled to Holland, and was one of 84 persons demanded by King James of the State's General, which made him live in exile until 1687 (54), when he constituted a weekly assembly in Amsterdam.
In 1689 (56) he returned to England with the Princess of Orange
made Commissioner of Appeals in 1690 (57)
appointed one of Trade and Plantations in 1695 (62), which he resigned for want of health in 1700 (67).
He died at Oates, Essex, at the country home of Sir Francis Masham, on the 28th of October, 1704 (71).
His works consist of 22 different publications.

John Locke - Philosophical summary

His premise denies the existence of innate ideas and asserts that the mind originally resembles a tabula rasa (clear slate) so that all knowledge comes from experience, specifically from sense perception and from reflection upon the relations of apprehended ideas and the operations of the mind itself.

He maintains that the primary qualities of objects (such as extension, figure, number, motion, rest) inhere in the objects independently of being perceived, and that the secondary qualities (such as color, sound, odor) are caused by external objects but do not resemble them.

He believes that political sovereignty is based on the consent of the governed. This idea forms the basis of the United States Constitution.