Englishman John Locke started a new vogue in thinking. He liked Rene' Descartes' method of clearing the slate to find out how people got to know things. But human reason wasn't the answer that Locke came up with. He said that all knowledge begins with what comes to the mind through the senses.
Only then can people begin to organize this information through reason. He said that no-one knows anything at birth:
"The MIND is a BLANK
piece of paper"
Locke grew up during England's civil war. His father fought for the parliament against the King. The local member of parliament thanked him by sending young John to an exclusive school. This lucky quirk of fate set Locke on the road to a glittering future. Locke senior was not so fortunate. The MP appointed him local inspector of sewers.
Locke became interested in medicine at Oxford University. He also rubbed shoulders with lots of famous people. The most powerful was Lord Shaftsbury, who made Locke his personal secretary and doctor. When an abscessed liver threatened to kill Shaftsbury, Locke drained it with a silver tap. Shaftsbury wore it for the rest of his life.
Shaftsbury rose to be Lord Chancellor, and he made Locke a government minister.
But Shaftsbury's intrigues got them both into trouble with Charles II, the newly reinstated king. Locke was a careful man, however, he wrote in code and crossed out names and places. He even used invisible ink for "naughty bits" in the long, flowery letters he sent to lady friends. The King's spies reported that "Locke lived a very cunning and unintelligible life".
The dog-eat-dog political arena convinced Locke of the need for tolerance. He said that all people had these basic rights: the right to life, to freedom, to own property, and to revolt against unjust rule.
George Washington incorporated Locke's basic political ideals into the American Constitution.
His father was inspector of sewers
Locke's friend Isaac Newton discovered gravity.
Locke fitted a silver tap to Shaftsbury's diseased liver
Locke lectured at Oxford and was the only philosopher to have become a minister of government.
