Most important contributions of John Locke

In that lesson from a TEACHER, we will talk about John Locke's most important contributions, a great connoisseur of the philosophy of Descartes, and that in opposition to it, he will affirm that only through experience is it possible to obtain a knowledge of reality. Only the senses provide a firm foundation of knowledge. His most important works are "The Essay on Human Understanding", the "Trtied up over civil government", Y "Letters on tolerance ". If you want to know more about the most important contributions of empiricist philosopher John Locke, continue reading this article.

The legacy of John locke It is of incalculable value, since he left great contributions in various fields: political, religious, moral, economic or epistemological. His theory of knowledge, as opposed to rationalism, consists of an uncompromising defense of the perception as the only way of knowing, both external perception, through sensation, and internal perception, through reflection, which is the mind's own activity. These sensations are associated with a

idea, What can be simple, that is, from of the feeling or reflection, or compound, that is, a combination of simple ideas, which are built from the reflection and they are reinforced thanks to memory. These ideas of sensation and reflection are combined with each other based on the laws of association, in Aristotelian terms.

Simple ideas are those that refer to qualities of bodies or physical objects, such as smell, color, weight or volume, while complex ones come from within, such as pain, pleasure, etc.

He denies, therefore, the existence of innate ideas. The human mind is like a clean sheet, that is, like a blank sheet, on which ideas coming from the outside (from the senses) or from the inside (from reflection) are printed.

"I can confess that the external and internal sensation are the only passages that I can find from knowledge to understanding."

John Locke affirms that the human being is bad by nature, reason why the laws, are essential to maintain the peace of the state. For the philosopher, the application of the law requires a punishment to the offenders of the same, and as a consequence, they are the object of social rejection and isolation.

John Locke considers himself the father ofliberalism classical, by defending that the human being has some non-transferable natural rights, and that they do not depend on any specific government, in addition, they have the right to private property and work, for the benefit of society as a whole. In front of absolutism of the moment, makes a defense of the popular sovereignty. The power of the state emanates from the free will of the people, and must safeguard the natural rights of citizens, such as the right to personal liberty or private property, which are the basis of a lifetime happy in society. “Every man has a property over his own person. No one has a right to it, except himself "

The English philosopher deniesthe society patriarchal, and at the same time build your own theory of the state and of the society civil based on natural rights and the social contract.

The form of government that John Locke defends is the one in which he governs the king and parliament, on which the first depends. The two are freely chosen by the people, since it is from the people that the power of the state emanates. Also, bet on the separation of powers, as a measure against corruption: poderLegislative, Executive Y Federative.

“We are born free and no power on earth can hold us, other than our own consent ”.

Here is a list of the most important works of John Locke, a philosopher who has had a great influence on thinkers of the stature ofAdam Smith, David Hume, Condillac,orMontesquieu, and has been a key figure in the North American Constitution, and in the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

• First Treaty of Government (1660)
• Essays on Civil Government (1660–1662)
• Essays on the law of nature (1664)
• Essay on Tolerance (1667)
• Charter of Ethics in General (1686)
• Compendium of the Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1688)
• Letter on Tolerance (1689)
• Treatises on civil government (1689)
• Letter of the Alliance and the Revolution (1690)
• Essay on Human Understanding (1690)
• Second Letter on Tolerance (1690)
• Third Letter on Tolerance (1692)
• Some Thoughts on Education (1693)