John Locke’s Epitaph (Latin)SISTE VIATOR

Hic juxta situs est JOHANNES LOCKE. Si qualis fuerit rogas, mediocritate sua contentum se vixesse respondet. Literis innutritus eo usque tantum profecit, ut veritati unice litaret. Hoc ex scriptis illius disce, quae quod de eo reliquum est majori fide tibe exhibebunt, quam epitaphii suspecta elogia. Virtutes si quas habuit, minores sane quam sibi laudi duceret tibi in exemplum proponeret; vita una sepeliantur. Morum exemplum si squaeras in Evangelio habes: vitiorum utinam nusquam: mortalitatis certe (quod prosit) hic et ubique.

1632 Aug. 29Mortuum Anno Dom. 1704 Oct. 28

Memorat haec tabula brevi et ipse interitura.

John Locke’s Epitaph (English)STOP TRAVELLER

Near this place lies JOHN LOCKE. If you are wondering what kind of man he was, he answers that he was contented with his modest lot. Bred a

scholar, he made his learning subservient only to the cause of truth. You will learn this from his writings, which will show you everything about him

more truthfully than the suspect praises of an epitaph. His virtues, if indeed he had any, were too slight to be lauded by him or to be an

example to you. Let his vices be buried with him. Of virtue you have an example in the gospels, should you desire it; of vice would there were

none for you; of mortality surely you have one here and everywhere, and may you learn from it.

That he was born on the 29th of August in the year of our Lord 1632and that he died on the 28th of October in the year of our Lord 1704

this tablet, which itself will soon perish, is a record.

John Locke’s BiographyJohn Locke was an English philosopher. he is considered the first of the British empiricists. His ideas had enormous influence on the development of epistemology and political philosophy, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers.

John Locke’s Early YearsJohn Locke was born into a middle-class family on August 28, 1634, in Somerset, England. His father worked as an attorney and in local government, and he owned properties that produced a modest income. Locke received an extraordinarily diverse education from early childhood on.

John Locke’s ContextLocke was born during the twenty-year English Civil War, which culminated in 1649 with the execution of Charles I and the dissolution of the House of Lords. He was born in and grew up in one of the most extraordinary centuries of English political and intellectual history. England then reinvented herself as a commonwealth where both royalty and an elected parliament would work together to govern the country.

John Locke’s DevelopmentThe seeds of Locke's opinions on religion and government were planted during his childhood. His father's career had taught him a respect for the law, and his Puritan upbringing imparted him with strong religious convictions. A crucial turning point in his philosophical development was a 1665 trip abroad to Cleves, where he observed a community of different religious sects living together in harmony. This experience may have challenged his ideas about the necessity of state-appointed religion and led to the later writing of his Letters Concerning Toleration (1689).

John Locke’s FleeingAfter a three-year visit to France, Locke returned in 1679 to an England in crisis. But he soon had to flee to the Netherlands for he was friends with the alleged assassins of Charles II, the King of England. Shaftesbury luckily survived a trial for treason and afterward fled to Holland. It is unclear how active Locke was in the affair, but his close friendship with Shaftesbury made him appear dangerous to Charles II.

John Locke’s ThoughtsMuch of Locke's work is characterized by opposition to authoritarianism. This opposition is both on the level of the individual person and on the level of institutions such as government and church.

John Locke’s Thoughts 2

For the individual, Locke wants each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion of authorities or be subject to superstition.

John Locke’s Thoughts 3

For the individual, Locke wants each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion of authorities or be subject to superstition

John Locke’s Thoughts 4

He wants us to agree with truths in proportion to the evidence for them.

John Locke’s WorksHe is famous for the term ‘tabula rasa’:

the mind is a blank sheet until experience in the form of sensation and reflection form the basic materials –simple ideas—out of which most of our more complex ideas are formed.

Locke's political theory John Locke wrote Two Treatises on Government. His political theory was founded on social contract theory. (Social contract theory: Human nature allows men to be selfish. In a natural state all people were equal and independent, and everyone had a natural right to defend his “life, health, liberty, or possessions.” Locke assumed that the sole right to defend in the state of nature was not enough, so people established a civil society to resolve conflicts in a civil way with help from government in a state of society.)

John Locke’s InfluenceJohn Locke’s Philosophy

Modern Liberalism Voltaire

The USA’s Founding

Document:The Declaration of

Independence