John Locke was a british man who had very similar views on government to ours in the U.S. today. He wanted the separation of church and government, just like our system that we obey today. He brought up the idea of checks and balances, and it was this idea that led him to support the idea that all people had inalienable rights. He even pushed for women's rights, and it was to this extent that he wished the government would concern. Being a secular man, he detested religion, but did not wish to disprove it. He simply referred to religion as nature, and would call the common "acts of God" nature. He is very similar to the other people we have studied in this era of enlightenment, but he is the only one who believes that everything should be completely balanced to the extent that no one is above another, but rather equaled by at least one other. This system is very similar to our President - Judicial Branch - Senators and House of Reps. They all equally rule, but the citizens always have a say.
Upon doing further research on Locke, I found that he also has a strong view on ownership or property. He feels that property is any material good, and that property is a natural right earned through labor. Meaning that you should be rewarded for your work, no matter the level of importance. I find this very similar to our system of minimum wage, and how no worker goes unpaid.
To summarize this knowledge, I would basically say that Locke was looking far into the future and could have been a major influence in our common beliefs today.
Austin,
ReplyDeleteCould you explain how the concept of checks and balances led Locke to to support the idea that all people had inalienable rights?
Also, Locke was not a man who detested religion. In fact, he wrote a book called "The Reasonableness of Christianity", and was raised a puritan. He claimed to be an Anglican until the day he died, and was not hesitant to discuss his deep religious faith in his writings. In fact, according to the philosophy page about Locke on Stanford.edu (cited below), "Religion and Christianity in particular is perhaps the most important influence on the shape of Locke's philosophy. But what kind of Christian was Locke? Locke's family were Puritans."
At the very least, most scholars would acknowledge that he was a deist who recognized the value of religion.
Lastly, can you back up the following claim you made in your post? Based on the small amount of research I have done, it would seem that Locke defined religion as something very different than 'nature'. In fact, I would even say that he clearly believed in the Christian God.
"He simply referred to religion as nature, and would call the common "acts of God" nature."
Here are the sources I used:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/
http://www.leithart.com/archives/001951.php