Enlightenment Philosophers
Enlightenment Philosopher|Lived|Publications|Enlightenment Principle|
Adam Smith||||
John Locke||||
Thomas Hobbes||||
Voltaire||||
Baron Charles de Montesquieu||||
Jean-Jacques Rousseau||||
Thomas Jefferson||||
William Blackstone||||
John Locke (1632-1704)
The British philosopher John Locke was especially known for his liberal, anti-authoritarian theory of the state[->0], his empirical theory of knowledge, his advocacy of religious toleration, and his theory of personal identity.
In his own time, he was famous for arguing that the divine right of kings is supported neither by scripture nor by the use of reason. In developing his theory of our duty to obey the state, he attacked the idea that might makes right: Starting from an initial state of nature with no government, police or private property, we humans could discover by careful reasoning that there are natural laws[->1] which suggest that we have natural rights[->2] to our own persons and to our own labor. Eventually we could discover that we should create a social contract[->3] with others, and out of this contract emerges our political obligations and the institution of private. This is how reasoning places limits on the proper use of power by government authorities.
Regarding epistemology[->4], Locke disagreed with Descartes[->5]‘ rationalist theory that knowledge is any idea that seems clear and distinct to us. Instead, Locke claimed that knowledge is direct awareness of facts concerning the agreement or disagreement among our ideas. By “ideas,” he meant mental objects, and by assuming that some of these mental objects represent non-mental objects he inferred that this is why we can have knowledge of a world external to our minds. Although we can know little for certain and must rely on probabilities[->6], he believed it is our God-given obligation to obtain knowledge and not always to acquire our beliefs by accepting the word of authorities[->7] or common superstition. Ideally our
Adam Smith||||
John Locke||||
Thomas Hobbes||||
Voltaire||||
Baron Charles de Montesquieu||||
Jean-Jacques Rousseau||||
Thomas Jefferson||||
William Blackstone||||
John Locke (1632-1704)
The British philosopher John Locke was especially known for his liberal, anti-authoritarian theory of the state[->0], his empirical theory of knowledge, his advocacy of religious toleration, and his theory of personal identity.
In his own time, he was famous for arguing that the divine right of kings is supported neither by scripture nor by the use of reason. In developing his theory of our duty to obey the state, he attacked the idea that might makes right: Starting from an initial state of nature with no government, police or private property, we humans could discover by careful reasoning that there are natural laws[->1] which suggest that we have natural rights[->2] to our own persons and to our own labor. Eventually we could discover that we should create a social contract[->3] with others, and out of this contract emerges our political obligations and the institution of private. This is how reasoning places limits on the proper use of power by government authorities.
Regarding epistemology[->4], Locke disagreed with Descartes[->5]‘ rationalist theory that knowledge is any idea that seems clear and distinct to us. Instead, Locke claimed that knowledge is direct awareness of facts concerning the agreement or disagreement among our ideas. By “ideas,” he meant mental objects, and by assuming that some of these mental objects represent non-mental objects he inferred that this is why we can have knowledge of a world external to our minds. Although we can know little for certain and must rely on probabilities[->6], he believed it is our God-given obligation to obtain knowledge and not always to acquire our beliefs by accepting the word of authorities[->7] or common superstition. Ideally our