John Locke And The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in the 18th century in Europe that affected European politics, philosophy, science and communications. The Enlightenment caused to outcome of numerous wars, revolutions, inventions, and scientific laws because many topics and ideas were questioned. The beginning of The Enlightenment came when Isaac Newton and John Locke published their essays “Principia Mathematica”, and “Essay Concerning Human Understanding”. These pieces of work formed the beginning of the Enlightenment. John Locke was a man born in the seventeenth century in the United Kingdom. Growing up, his father was a lawyer, small landowner, and one who fought for the parliamentary side in war. Owing to the fact that his father had war connections, he was enrolled in the WestMinster school, an elite school. He studied logic, metaphysics, classics, and medicine, with medicine being studied far more extensively when at Christ Church, Oxford. His knowledge in medicine led to service for Shaftesbury, which led to them being exiled for …show more content…
Locke’s essay “Two Treatises of Government” greatly affected the seventeenth century, for this essay brought forth the laws stating that societies form governments by a mutual agreement, and that when a king loses the consent of a governed, the society may remove him. During this time there was much tyranny happening, so Locke was proactive on doing something for the people. It also brought the upbringing of his definition of property, which became the foundation of Adam Smith’s capitalism and Karl Marx’s socialism. In 1689-1692 Locke argued that government should have a tolerance for religious beliefs. He trusted that they were not in a position to make decisions on what religion was “good” or not, because their beliefs may have or were different from