John Locke

The enlightenment era arose in the modern cultural ideology of the 18th century, as ideas among philosophers had a widespread effect among the society. The age of enlightenment, in western society, projected the rejection of traditional Christianity, western philosophy, intellectual advances, scientific, and cultural life, government legitimacy and authority. Upon the enlightenment period multiple philosophers emerged, the individuals arose to leading figures using reason to understand all aspects of human life. The motivations for the enlightenment came primarily from the Englishmen, John Locke. John Locke was a philosophical influence in both political theory and theoretical philosophy, which was embraced among the era of 1789-1914 and the concept of equal rights among men. John Locke’s writings influenced the works of multiple diplomats concerning liberty and the social contract between society and the government. Locke’s ideology of man and power was the base for the concept of separation of powers. As one of the enlightenment thinkers, John Locke wrote the Two Treatises of Government influencing the framework of his ideal vision of the nature of man and his freedom, stating that all men exist in “a state of perfect freedom” as “every man being, has been showed, naturally free.” (Primary Sources, 156) His theories involved the money value within trading systems, education ideals, the blank mind shaped by surroundings, and the framework for the American Revolution. Locke’s ideas were taken and embraced as his ideas “seemed to offer the hope of a brave new world” built on reason.” (Spielvogel 516)

The enlightenment was an era of intellectual and social growth as people began to challenge and view the world changed. During the era, society began to believe all men are free people, a concept enforced by John Locke’s ideologies. John Locke believed every person was born with tabula rasa, blank mind, arguing in Essay on Human Understanding that men and women,