Locke, John (1632–1704)

KNOWN AS THE “father of classical liberalism” and often called the “unofficial Founding Father of the U.S. Constitution,” John Locke was born in Somerset, England, to John and Agnes Keene Locke. At an early age, John's father, an attorney, exposed him to liberal and radical ideas and issues that challenged the status quo of 17th-century England. In 1646, Locke enrolled as an undergraduate at Oxford University's Christ Church College, where he became a tutor. In 1649, Locke published his Essays on the Law of Nature, and the following year he accepted the position of censor of moral philosophy at Oxford. Obeying his need as an empiricist to explain the physical world, Locke opened an experimental lab with David Thomas while at Oxford. The following year, Locke became the medical adviser to Lord Ashley, the future Earl of Shaftesbury, who became Lord Chancellor of England in 1672. In the Shaftesbury circle, which was composed chiefly of those who were determined to prevent James II from forcing Catholicism upon England, Locke was introduced to a world of power and intrigue.

Returning to Oxford yet again, Locke completed a bachelor's degree in medicine in 1674. After becoming ill, he spent three years in France, discussing philosophy and science with the major thinkers of France and the Netherlands. The Earl of Shaftesbury had escaped to Holland after being tried and acquitted on charges of treason, and Locke followed him. British authorities [Page 287]added Locke's name to a list of suspected traitors and threatened him with arrest. For a brief period, Locke was forced to use an alias. By 1686, however, Locke's freedom was no longer in jeopardy, and he returned to public life. Between 1689 and 1690, Locke published all of his major works: Two Treatises of Government, A Second Letter Concerning Toleration, and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. With his legitimacy now restored, Locke played a significant role in the founding of the Bank of England in 1694 and was appointed to the Court of Trade two years later.

John Locke's theories about human behavior and government set the foundation of liberalism around the world.

To explain his theories, Locke described man as being born into a state of nature where each person was born completely free and equal. Locke saw human nature in its natural state as a “blank slate,” neither good nor evil. While Locke believed that people were capable of cooperation, he saw the state of nature as unreliable because it forced man to be chiefly concerned with his own protection. To gain security, Locke suggested that rational men entered into a social contract with one another, creating a limited government. Once created, government bore the responsibility for protecting individuals from those who would “harm another in his life, liberty, or possessions.” To Locke, “the great and chief end” of government was always “the preservation of property.”

Locke is best known to the general public for his views on “natural rights.” He believed that the “Law of Nature is God's rules for how his creation should operate.” Locke argued that because property was God's gift to man, individuals have an inherent right to life, liberty, and property. While Locke believed that nurturing was the chief role of women, he conceded that woman was free to “overcome the natural limitations.” If so, then she, too, was guaranteed those rights inherent to man. In Locke's view, each individual owned the fruits of his or her own labors; therefore, no one had a right to collect more property than could be individually used. In civil society, man discovered money, which could be hoarded, unlike the proceeds of hunting and gathering used as barter in the state of nature. Locke believed that money, like any property amassed in unequal amounts, led to conflicts.

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