John Locke

John Locke was an important philosopher during the Enlightenment. He wrote about human political structure. One of his famous writings, The Essay, was about human psychology and cognition. This was the first European work on human cognition. Locke applied new science to explain how the human mind worked and all its operations. Locke’s theory on the mind was that the human mind enters the world with no pre-formed ideas whatsoever. The human mind at birth is a blank erase board and sensation fills the mind and from those sensations comes order and rationality. He argued that the only knowledge is empirical knowledge. Locke proposed that education above everything was responsible for forging the moral and intellectual character, so he proposed an extension of education to every member of the society. He believed you can change moral and intellectual outcomes by changing the environment. In the Two Treatises Locke argued that government was based on natural law and everyone was fundamentally equal. He believed that absolute power was an unnatural development in human history. For Locke, the purpose of authority was to protect human equality and freedom which is why social contracts were made. When authority fails to care for the welfare, independence, and equality for individuals the social contract is broken and the ruler can be overthrown. This is the basis of the American government now.

Source:Enlightenment Packet p.4