John Locke: One of the Greatest Minds

There were a lot of important philosophers during the Enlightenment and one of them were John Locke. John Locke was born on August 29, 1632 in Wrington, England. His father was a country lawyer and was a military man who served as captain in the English Civil War. He went to Westminster school in 1647. He got the honor of getting named a King's Scholar. That helped him go to  Christ Church, University of Oxford in 1652. At Oxford he studied medicine. Later on in life, medicine played a huge role in his life. Also at Oxford which is one of the best Universities back then, John Locke went into logic and metaphysics. John Locke got great education because of his father's great connection between the English government. Locke graduated from Christ Church in 1656. He wasn't finished though, he came back for another two years and earned a Master of Arts. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1674. 

Locke was then invited to be the Royal Society. Early in his medical years Locke met Lord Ashley who soon became Earl of Shaftesbury and soon they became great friends. Shaftesbury then later persuaded Locke to go to London to become his personal physician. He also followed him to France in 1675. When Locke and Shaftesbury returned to England they both worked to block the success of James, Duke of York, and later James II. Unfortunately their work was unsuccessful. As England fell under a bad time because of the king's, John Locke became a target of the government.  Locke was forced to leave England in 1683.

Locke went to Holland where he stayed there for five years. He made the Letter on Toleration. The following year Locke composed one of his most famous works An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. The Essay had so many volumes. The Essay argued against the idea of innate ideas. Mind is analogous to a blank slate, a tabula rasa. Another of his famous works was the Two Treatises of Government in 1690.The Two Treatises of Government put forth his revolutionary ideas concerning the natural rights of everyone and the social contract. Those two really hit England and impacted the American and French revolutions later on. The great American Revolution. Locke returned from Holland when James II was overthrown.

During the next few years of a close enough to say retirement of Locke, he continued his involvement in political affairs and hosted many important visitors. One of them was the great Sir Isaac Newton. Locke's influence on philosophy and political thought of the eighteenth century was without a doubt influential. Locke died on October 28, 1704, in Essex, where he'd spent most of his last parts of his long life. John Locke was buried in High Laver Church. Other famous enlightenment thinkers were influenced by Locke's work. Voltaire worked hard to keep Locke's legacy to go on. He also publicized Locke's work on toleration, reason, and limited government. John Locke was an instrumental person for the enlightenment and a lot wouldn't have happened without him. John Locke one of the greatest minds that humankind has ever had.

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