What does John Locke mean in history?
The English philosopher and political theorist John Locke (1632-1704) laid much of the groundwork for the Enlightenment and made central contributions to the development of liberalism. Trained in medicine, he was a key advocate of the empirical approaches of the Scientific Revolution.
What was the impact of John Locke’s view of natural law on the founding fathers?
Locke believed that the purpose of government is to protect individual liberties and the natural rights of life, liberty and property. The Founding Fathers included these ideas when they wrote the Declaration of Independence.
What are two Enlightenment ideas that influenced the founding fathers?
The big ideas of the Enlightenment certainly had a huge impact on our Founding Fathers. The ideas of the social contract, natural laws and natural rights, and separation of powers, are all found in our Founding Documents, like the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
What political philosophers influenced the Founding Fathers?
The founders of the United States were deeply influenced by republicanism, by Locke, and by the optimism of the European Enlightenment. George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all concurred that laws, rather than men, should be the final sanction and that government should be responsible to the governed.
Why is John Locke called the empiricist?
John Locke (1632–1704) was an English philosopher, often classified as an ’empiricist’, because he believed that knowledge was founded in empirical observation and experience.
Was Descartes an empiricist?
Thus, Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz are the Continental Rationalists in opposition to Locke, Berkeley and Hume, the British Empiricists. It is also important to note that the rationalist/empiricist distinction is not exhaustive of the possible sources of knowledge.