John Locke ia known as one of the most influential philsophers of the 17th and 18th centuries. His ideas and influences are still evident today. He has been called the father of democracy and was one of the key men who shaped the American Constiution.(1) In my paper I will discuss the life and the major contributions of John Locke.
             Locke was born in Wrington, in somersetshire, in 1632. His parents were stern Puritans but as he matured he began to question the Puritan faith. He came from an affluent family. His father was a well respected lawyer and a clerk to the local Justices of the Peace. When he was ten years old war broke out in England and set the stage for some of his political writings. In 1646 he began to study at Westminister College and moved on to Christ Church, Oxford, as a junior student, in 1652.(2) In 1656 he earned a B.A. and a M.A. in 1658. Then in 1666 he became Lord Ashley's physician and counselor. While living with Lord Ashley he put the knowledge he obtained at Oxford to good use by performing an operation to remove a cyst from his liver that saved his friends life.(3) Lord Shaftsbury, formley known as Lord Ashley, is appointed Lord President of the Kings Council. ===== During his time in Holland he allowed most of his time to consentrate on his studies and complete many of his wrirings. In 1689 both An Essay Concerning Human Undersanding and Two Treaties of Civil Government were written. He then began living moved to Oates, the residence of Sir Francis and Lady Masham, and made it his permanent place of residence until his death in 1704.
             Locke's main purpose in philsophy was "to inquire into the orginal, certanity, and extent of human knowledge, together with the grounds and degrees of beilef, opinion, and assent."(5) His definition of an idea was any perception or concept of thought that exist In the mind. Michael Ayers explains in his book how Locke's defintion of ideas could take on...