John+Locke+P1

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=__John Locke__= [|] John Locke was born at Wrington, a village in Somerset, on August 29, 1632. He died at the age of 72 on October 28, 1704 in Essex, England. he is a virgo and his birthstone is carnelian

He was the son of a country solicitor and small landowner who, when the civil war broke out, served as a captain of horse in the parliamentary army.

He entered Westminster school in 1646, and passed to Christ Church, Oxford, as a junior student, in 1652; and he had a home there (though absent from it for long periods) for more than thirty years -- till deprived of his studentship by royal mandate in 1684.

He was elected to a senior studentship in 1659, and, in the three or four years following, he took part in the tutorial work of the college. At one time he seems to have thought of the clerical profession as a possible career; but he declined an offer of preferment in 1666, and in the same year obtained a dispensation which enabled him to hold his studentship without taking orders. His knowledge of medicine and occasional practice of the art led, in 1666, to an acquaintance with Lord Ashley (afterwards, from 1672, Earl of Shaftesbury). The acquaintance, begun accidentally, had an immediate effect on Locke's career. Without serving his connection with Oxford, he became a member of Shaftesbury's household, and seems soon to have been looked upon as indispensable in all matters domestic and political. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1688.

=Quote=

The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.

Good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided.

The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.

The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.

=Human Understanding=

One of Locke's greatest work was **//An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. His most inportant Goal for writing the essay was determine the limits if human understanding. Locke describes the mind as an empty void, at birth, which is filled through experiences. It was argued that some senses started in the womb like the difference of taste. He also argues that people have no innate principles, and that such priciples would rely on innate ideas.//**