My civics teacher told us to define John Locke. How would you define him? He's a person for pete's sake.

Question

There is no definition for him in our text books. Can you help me please? How would you define John Locke?
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Answer 1

Although the answerer above nicely quoted *cough* plagiarised a wikipedia article, that isn't even a definition. When defining a person, that is, describing his or her achievements, and what (s)he is remembered for, you should stick to two or three sentences.

John Locke - An influential English 17th century philospher, who developed theories regarding natural law, value and price, politics, and property. His theories are based on the three words most associated with him today "Life, Liberty, Property."

(In the U.S., this became Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness, and in France, Liberte, Egalite, Fraternity (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity/Brotherhood))

Answer 2

Just "google" him and you'll find a great deal about him, such as:

John Locke (August 29, 1632 – October 28, 1704) was an influential English philosopher. In epistemology, Locke has often been classified as a British Empiricist, along with David Hume and George Berkeley. He is equally important as a social contract theorist, as he developed an alternative to the Hobbesian state of nature and argued a government could only be legitimate if it received the consent of the governed through a social contract and protected the natural rights of life, liberty, and estate. If such consent was not given, argued Locke, citizens had a right of rebellion. Locke is one of the few major philosophers who became a minister of government.

Locke's ideas had an enormous influence on the development of political philosophy, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and contributors to liberal theory. His writings, along with those of the writings of many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, influenced the American revolutionaries as reflected in the American Declaration of Independence.

Locke exercised a profound influence on subsequent philosophy and politics, in particular on liberalism. He was a strong influence on Voltaire, while his arguments concerning liberty and the social contract later influenced the written works of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other Founding Fathers of the United States.

Appraisals of Locke have often been tied to appraisals of liberalism in general, and also to appraisals of the United States. Detractors note that he was a major investor in the English slave-trade through the Royal Africa Company, as well as through his participation in drafting the Fundamental Constitution of the Carolinas while Shaftesbury's secretary, which established a feudal aristocracy and gave a master absolute power over his slaves. Some see his statements on unenclosed property as having justified the displacement of the Native Americans. Because of his opposition to aristocracy and slavery in his major writings, he is accused of hypocrisy, or of caring only for the liberty of English capitalists. Most American liberal scholars reject these criticisms, however, questioning the extent of his impact upon the Fundamental Constitution and his detractors' interpretations of his work in general.

Theory of Property
Locke proposed a labour theory of property that built on the idea of natural law. By mixing his labour with an object, a person then owns that object. However, labour also set the bounds of private property because, under the labour idea, a person could only own that which could be enjoyed and used. By these bounds, the economy should run efficiently because property will not be wasted, spoiled, or hoarded.

Locke uses the word property in both broad and narrow senses. In a broad sense, it covers a wide range of human interests and aspirations; more narrowly, it refers to material goods. He argues property is a natural right and it is derived from labour.

Scholars believe that Karl Marx later adapted Locke's theory on property in his philosophies. He also had an influence on the US Constitution in the Preamble. John Locke had the thought that all men had the natural rights of life, liberty, and property (the latter was replaced by "the pursuit of happiness" during negotiations of the drafting of the US Declaration of Independence). He also developed the Lockeian social contract which included the state of nature, government with the consent of the governed and all the natural instincts

Answer 3

well here's a shorter answer for you. Locke was a british philosopher who believed in the social contract between man and government. he believed it was man's right and duty to overthrow a government that infringed on man's natural born rights to life liberty and property

Answer 4

he was a philosipher right? i don't really know :S sorry x