Birth:
August 29, 1634, Wrington, Somerset, England
Death:
October 28, 1704, Essex, England
Early Influences:
- Born into a middle-class puritan family
- Lost both of his parents at a young age
- Elected to a studentship until 1684
Education:
- Attended Westminster School, 1646
- Attended Christ Church, Oxford, 1652
- Educated as a physician
- Received a bachelor's degree in medicine in 1674
- Became involved in government through his friendship with the 1st earl of Shaftesbury
Major Accomplishments:
- Wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
- Wrote Two Treatises of Government (1690)
- Wrote Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)
Significance:
- Extremely influential through his friendships with important government officials
- Founded British Empiricism
- Helped set the foundations for the philosophy of liberalism, a political philosophy emphasizing personal freedom
- Defined the 'natural rights' as life, liberty and property which would profoundly affect the America's Founding Fathers
- Espoused limited government and denied the divine right of kings
Contemporaries:
