John Locke Influence On Education

John Locke was an English philosopher and Physician. Locke was born on August 29, 1632 in Wrington, Somerset. He was viewed as one of the most important philosophers. Not only that, Locke was classified as the “Father of Liberalism” and founded the school of empiricism. He inspired both the European Enlightenment and the Constitution of the United States.

In his early life, both of his parents, Agnes Keene and John Locke were both Puritans. His father was a lawyer and served time in the military during the English civil war. In 1647, John was enrolled into Westminster School in London. He then earned the title as a “King’s Scholar”. Not everyone received that honor. It was only for males. By receiving that title, John made his way to another high class school called “Christ Church” in 1652. By being chosen as a “King’s Scholar”, he got offered a financial benefit, which helped him buy many books to learn Greek and Latin. People who attended that school studied logic, metaphysics, and different types of languages.

He graduated in 1656 and came back to Christ Church to earn a Master’s of Arts. John decided to go into the field of medicine, which required reading. He read and studied with influential

physicians, Robert Boyle and Thomas Sydenham. Sydenham helped him get chosen to be in the Royal Society in 1668. Medicine was what he decided to stay focused on.
While studying medicine, Locke encountered the first Earl of Shaftesbury.

Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper. Ashley was one of the most powerful figures in England in the first two decades after the Restoration. Locke and Ashley had a meeting together in 1666. Ashley was so impressed with Locke at their first meeting that in the following year he asked him to join his London household in Exeter House in the Strand as his aide and personal physician, though Locke did not then have a degree in medicine. Lock’s responsibilities expanded. He helped with his business and political matters, and after Shaftsbury was made chancellor, Locke turned into his secretary of presentations. Locke played a number of roles in the household, mostly likely serving as tutor to Ashley’s

son
In 1674, Locke returned to Oxford and earned his bachelors in medicine. He then ventured out to France. Locke had written one of his most famous writings, “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”. While in France Shaftesbury was detained in the Tower of London and got out in February of 1678. The Essay was published after Locke's return to England in 1688. The Essay is divided into four books with each book contributing to Locke’s overall goal of examining the human mind with respect to its contents and operations. In Book I Locke rules out one possible origin of our knowledge. Book II argues that all of our ideas come from experience; Book III is something of a digression as Locke turns his attention to language and the role it plays in our theorizing; Book IV discusses knowledge, belief, and opinion.
Shaftesbury had been elected as lord president of the Privy Council when Locke returned to France. The country was being destroyed slowly. A debate was going on about which laws should be passed. In 1681, Shaftesbury was sent to prison once again, but with the type of jury he had, he was released with no time sentenced. He then went off to Holland in 1683 and deceased. Since he was dead, nobody was safe in England. Locke was even being stalked.
Locke stayed in France for almost four years. He made many friends in the Protestant community, including some leading intellectuals. His reading, on the other hand, was dominated by the works of French Catholic philosophers. But it was his medical interests that were the major theme of the journals he kept from this period. The Essay brought him widespread fame as a philosopher. He was a major influence on the Whigs and enjoyed friendships with Sir Isaac Newton and John Dryden.
In December of 1689, “Two Treatises of Government” was published. The Two Treatises of Government was another one of John Lock’s major pieces of work. The main purpose of that document was to justify the significance of the Glorious Revolution. During the Revolution, he was more involved in political projects, especially the Bill of Rights. London wasn’t a good atmosphere, Locke’s health started to decline.
The first treatise was aimed directly at theorist, Sir Robert Filmer. Sir Robert Filmer published a “Patriarcha”, or The Natural Power of Kings in 1680. Locke’s importance as a political philosopher lies in the argument of the second treatise. He begins by defining political power. To Locke, that statement basically meant that it is a right of making laws and making it to the public for their own good. Each person is naturally free and equal under the law of nature and is required to enforce as well as to obey this law.
His joining of independence inside the structure of the law of nature motivated the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The first president of the United States, George Washington classified John Locke as an outstanding person. Back to Locke’s writings, he had wrote and published A Letter Concerning Toleration in Latin, which could be translated in 1689. After that, in 1893, he then published Some Thoughts Concerning Education, which is a treatise. That book was based on males. For over a century, it was the most important philosophical work on education in England. He stated that the current curriculum and syllabus in schools and colleges needs to be broadened. He also called for the better treatment of students. The ideas espoused in this work had an enormous influence on the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
In 1695, “The Reasonableness of Christianity” was created by John Locke. That book was one of his important writings as well. According to Locke, all Christians must accept Jesus as the Messiah and live in accordance with his teachings.
John Locke had created over 30 books in the years that he was living. Locke had made a huge influence in today’s society. His theories helped shape up a few things such as religion and freedom. The French Enlightenment drew heavily on his ideas, as did the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution. His education is what led him to success.
John had moved in with his close friend/philosopher named Damaris Masham. His health constantly declined. John Locke died on October 28, 1704, and is buried in the graveyard at High Laver, Essex. He was never married or had children.