The Enlightenment, beginning in 17th century Europe, is also known as the Age of Reason. It’s referred to as the Age of Reason due to the change in mentality of that time. Before the Enlightenment was the Renaissance, or the rebirth in religion after the Dark Ages. During the Enlightenment, however, focus shifted from religion and tradition to reason and individualism. The purpose of this time was to reform society by using reason, challenging ideas grounded in faith, and to advance knowledge. This era heavily promoted intellectual change, skepticism, and an overall new way of thinking.
The Enlightenment ultimately gave birth to the scientific revolution. The influence generated from this era directly impacted the development of many countries, including our own. John Locke is of of the most famous philosophers, and ultimately the one that I’m going to focus on.
John Locke, also known as the “Father of Classical Liberalism” is widely regarded as being one of the most influential thinkers of this time period. In my opinion, he is the most influential. His writings influenced those of Voltaire and Rousseau.
My favorite of Locke’s theories is his theory of knowledge. John Locke’s theory of knowledge states that we are born without knowledge. Essentially he believes that we are, “blank slates at birth.” Let’s give a white piece of paper the symbol of being the blank slate. At this point, the mind if void of all characters, contains no ideas How does this white paper become furnished with the ideas and thoughts that currently inhabit us? I’m going to use a pencil to symbolize the one thing that colors our blank slate with the beautiful pictures that are the materials of reason and knowledge. That one thing is experience. All of our knowledge is discovered through experiences; and from that it ultimately derives itself. Our observation employs either external sensible objects or internal operations of our minds to perceive and reflect ideas, thoughts, and knowledge onto ourselves. It’s these external and internal influences that supply our understandings with all the materials of thinking. External objects and internal operations are the fountains of knowledge, from whence all the ideas we have, or can naturally have, do spring
If it weren’t for John Locke, our country may not have been the way it was at it’s foundation. Locke proposed many ideas that are found in the Constitution. He proposed them 100 years before in a writing known as “The Two Treatise of Government”.
The First Treatise is a criticism of Robert Filmer’s “Patriarcha,” which argues in support of the divine right of kings. Locke argues that Filmer cannot be correct because his theory “holds that every man is born a slave to the natural born kings.” Locke refuses to accept this because of his belief in reason, predetermination, and in the ability of every man to virtuously govern himself according to God’s law. Locke, being a humanist, believed that man can accomplish anything. He doesn’t believe that one’s life is already written for that individual, which is the root of his disagreement with divine right. Divine right states that kings were chosen to be kings by god before they were born. Locke believes that the path one takes is the path that he/she chooses.
The Second Treatise consists of various chapters and a short preface. In the first chapter, Locke defines political power as the right to make laws for the protection and regulation of property. In his view, these laws only work because the people accept them as being beneficial for the public good. In the second chapter, Locke claims that all men are originally in a state of nature. A man in this original state is bound by the laws of nature, but is otherwise able to live and act as he sees fit. More importantly, human beings, free from the arbitrary laws of other men, have an obligation to protect the interests of each other. This thought holds Locke’s thought that they are all equally children of God. They also have an obligation to punish those who go against God’s will and attempt to harm another by compromising his life, liberty, or possessions. Here you can see his influence on the Constitution.
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts of his “blank slate theory”. Also if there are any philosophers, philosophical ideas, or philosophical questions that you would like me to address at some point in this blog, just post and I’ll get to them!
I read about Locke for an American government class as well as for a Literature class and thoroughly enjoyed his thoughts both times. I totally agree with his ideas on how humans govern themselves, and, as a Christian, I appreciate that Locke didn’t totally reject God in order to embrace enlightened thinking. Even today people seem to think they must have one or the other, and I disagree. I’m not sure that I completely agree with the blank slate theory, although I find it interesting. I think Locke is right in that we are heavily influenced by our life experiences (especially by the people who raise us and the communities in which we live), but don’t you think we are born with certain interests and abilities, and those interests and abilities can then be nurtured or crushed by our upbringing? I’m also not sure that our lives are totally up to us. People can have all kinds of mental, emotional and physical disabilities that literally make them incapable of certain things. I think it only leads to disappointment when one tells a child (as children are so often told these days) that they can do anything. I’m sure that with the right amount of effort, people can do more than they think they can, but they can’t do just anything.
I took a Western Civilization class in high school and I specifically remember discussing John Locke’s influence on the Enlightenment. I personally agree with Locke’s “blank slate theory” about knowledge being built entirely by your experiences. Everyone’s reality, thought processes, morals and intelligence is all subjective to what you experience growing up. This only further supports how unique and different every individual is. I’m really glad you chose to discuss John Locke. He is one of the few philosophers I know. Him, Aristotle and Descartes are the only ones I have any knowledge of. However, I like learning about new philosophers I’ve never heard of. Keep up the good work.