The Enlightenment John Locke and his main ideas. Social philosophy of John Locke

Education, law and statehood, which were relevant in the mid-17th century. He is the founder of a new political and legal doctrine, which later became known as the “doctrine of early bourgeois liberalism.”

Biography

Locke was born in 1632 into a Puritan family. Educated at Westminster School and Christ Church College. In college, he began his scientific career as a teacher of Greek and rhetoric. During this period, he became acquainted with the famous naturalist Robert Boyle. Together with him, Locke carried out metrological observations and studied chemistry in depth. Subsequently, John Locke seriously studied medicine and in 1668 became a member of the Royal Society of London.

In 1667, John Locke met Lord Ashley Cooper. This extraordinary man was in opposition to the royal court and criticized the existing government. John Locke leaves teaching and settles on Lord Cooper's estate as his friend, companion and personal physician.

Political intrigues and a failed attempt force Lord Ashley to hastily leave his native shores. Following him, John Locke emigrated to Holland. The main ideas that brought fame to the scientist were formed precisely in emigration. The years spent in a foreign country turned out to be the most fruitful in Locke's career.

The changes that occurred in England at the end of the 17th century allowed Locke to return to his homeland. The philosopher willingly works with the new government and for some time holds important positions under the new administration. The post of responsible for trade and colonial affairs becomes the last in the scientist’s career. A lung disease forces him to retire, and he spends the rest of his life in the town of Ots, on the estate of his close friends.

Trace in philosophy

The main philosophical work as “An Essay on Human Understanding.” The treatise reveals a system of empirical (experiential) philosophy. The basis for conclusions is not logical conclusions, but actual experience. So says John Locke. A philosophy of this kind was in conflict with the existing worldview system. In this work, the scientist argues that the basis for studying the world around us is sensory experience, and only through observation can one obtain reliable, real and obvious knowledge.

Trace in religion

The philosopher's scientific works also concern the arrangement of religious institutions that existed at that time in England. The well-known manuscripts are “A Defense of Nonconformism” and “An Essay Concerning Toleration,” authored by John Locke. The main ideas were outlined precisely in these unpublished treatises, and the entire system of church structure, the problem of freedom of conscience and religion, was presented in the “Message on Tolerance.”

In this work, the work secures the right of every person to The scientist calls on state institutions to recognize the choice of religion as the inalienable right of every citizen. The true church in its activities, according to the scientist, must be merciful and compassionate towards dissenters; the authority of the church and the teaching of the church must suppress violence in any form. However, the tolerance of believers should not extend to those who do not recognize the legal laws of the state, deny society and the very existence of the Lord, says John Locke. The main ideas of the “Message on Tolerance” are the equality of rights of all religious communities and the separation of state power from the church.

“The Reasonability of Christianity as Presented in the Holy Scriptures” is a later work by the philosopher, in which he affirms the unity of God. Christianity, first of all, is a set of moral standards that every person should adhere to, says John Locke. The philosopher's works in the field of religion enriched religious teachings with two new directions - English deism and latitudinarism - the doctrine of religious tolerance.

Trace in the theory of state and law

J. Locke outlined his vision of the structure of a just society in his work “Two Treatises on Government.” The basis for the essay was the doctrine of the emergence of the state from the “natural” society of people. According to the scientist, at the beginning of its existence, humanity did not know wars, everyone was equal and “no one had more than the other.” However, in such a society there were no regulatory bodies that would eliminate disagreements, resolve property disputes, and administer a fair trial. In order to provide security, they formed a political community - the state. The peaceful formation of state institutions, based on the consent of all people, is the basis for the creation of a state system. So says John Locke.

The main ideas of the state transformation of society were the formation of political and judicial bodies that would protect the rights of all people. The state retains the right to use force to protect itself from outside invasion, as well as to monitor compliance with internal laws. John Locke's theory, as outlined in this essay, asserts the right of citizens to remove a government that fails to perform its functions or abuses power.

Footprint in pedagogy

“Thoughts on Education” is an essay by J. Locke, in which he argues that the environment has a decisive influence on the child. At the beginning of his development, the child is under the influence of parents and educators, who are moral models for him. As the child grows up, he gains freedom. The philosopher also paid attention to the physical education of children. Education, as stated in the essay, should be based on the use of practical knowledge necessary for life in a bourgeois society, and not on the study of scholastic sciences that have no practical use. This work was criticized by the Bishop of Worcester, with whom Locke repeatedly entered into polemics, defending his views.

Mark on history

Philosopher, jurist, religious leader, teacher and publicist - all this is John Locke. The philosophy of his treatises met the practical and theoretical needs of the new century - the century of Enlightenment, discoveries, new sciences and new state formations.

John Locke(English) John Locke; August 29, 1632, Wrington, Somerset, England - October 28, 1704, Essex, England) - British educator and philosopher, representative of empiricism and liberalism. Contributed to the spread of sensationalism. His ideas had a huge influence on the development of epistemology and political philosophy. He is widely recognized as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and theorists of liberalism. Locke's letters influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers and American revolutionaries. His influence is also reflected in the American Declaration of Independence.

Locke's theoretical constructs were also noted by later philosophers such as David Hume and Immanuel Kant. Locke was the first thinker to reveal personality through the continuity of consciousness. He also postulated that the mind is a "blank slate", that is, contrary to Cartesian philosophy, Locke argued that people are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience gained by sense perception.

Biography

Born on August 29, 1632 in the small town of Wrington in the west of England, near Bristol, in the family of a provincial lawyer.

In 1646, on the recommendation of his father's commander (who had been a captain in Cromwell's Parliamentary army during the Civil War), he was enrolled at Westminster School. In 1652, Locke, one of the best students at the school, entered Oxford University. In 1656 he received a bachelor's degree, and in 1658 he received a master's degree from this university.

In 1667, Locke accepted the offer of Lord Ashley (later Earl of Shaftesbury) to take the place of family physician and tutor of his son and then actively became involved in political activities. Begins to create “Epistle on Tolerance” (published: 1st - in 1689, 2nd and 3rd - in 1692 (these three - anonymously), 4th - in 1706, after Locke's death).

On behalf of the Earl of Shaftesbury, Locke participated in the drafting of a constitution for the province of Carolina in North America (“Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina”).

1668 - Locke was elected a member of the Royal Society, and in 1669 - a member of its Council. Locke's main areas of interest were natural science, medicine, politics, economics, pedagogy, the relationship of the state to the church, the problem of religious tolerance and freedom of conscience.

1671 - Decides to conduct a thorough study of the cognitive abilities of the human mind. This was the plan of the scientist’s main work, “An Essay on Human Understanding,” on which he worked for 16 years.

1672 and 1679 - Locke receives various prominent positions in the highest government offices in England. But Locke's career was directly dependent on the ups and downs of Shaftesbury. From the end of 1675 to the middle of 1679, due to deteriorating health, Locke was in France.

In 1683, Locke, following Shaftesbury, emigrated to Holland. In 1688-1689, a denouement came that put an end to Locke's wanderings. The Glorious Revolution took place, William III of Orange was proclaimed King of England. Locke participated in the preparation of the coup of 1688, was in close contact with William of Orange and had great ideological influence on him; at the beginning of 1689 he returned to his homeland.

In the 1690s, along with government service, Locke again conducted extensive scientific and literary activities. In 1690, “An Essay on Human Understanding”, “Two Treatises on Government” were published, in 1693 - “Thoughts on Education”, in 1695 - “The Reasonability of Christianity”.

Philosophy

The basis of our knowledge is experience, which consists of individual perceptions. Perceptions are divided into sensations (the effect of an object on our senses) and reflections. Ideas arise in the mind as a result of the abstraction of perceptions. The principle of constructing the mind as a “tabula rasa”, on which information from the senses is gradually reflected. The principle of empiricism: the primacy of sensation before reason.

Locke's philosophy was extremely influenced by Descartes; Descartes' doctrine of knowledge underlies all Locke's epistemological views. Reliable knowledge, Descartes taught, consists in the discernment by the mind of clear and obvious relations between clear and distinct ideas; where reason, through the comparison of ideas, does not perceive such relations, there can only be opinion, and not knowledge; reliable truths are obtained by reason directly or through inference from other truths, which is why knowledge can be intuitive and deductive; deduction is accomplished not through a syllogism, but through the bringing of the compared ideas to a point whereby the relation between them becomes obvious; deductive knowledge, which is composed of intuition, is quite reliable, but since it at the same time depends in some respects on memory, it is less reliable than intuitive knowledge. In all this Locke completely agrees with Descartes; he accepts the Cartesian position that the most reliable truth is the intuitive truth of our own existence.

In the doctrine of substance, Locke agrees with Descartes that a phenomenon is unthinkable without substance, that substance is revealed in signs and is not cognized in itself; he objects only to Descartes’ position that the soul constantly thinks, that thinking is the main sign of the soul. While Locke agrees with Descartes' doctrine of the origin of truths, he disagrees with Descartes on the issue of the origin of ideas. According to Locke, developed in detail in the second book of the Essay, all complex ideas are gradually developed by the mind from simple ideas, and simple ones come from external or internal experience. In the first book of Experience, Locke explains in detail and critically why it is impossible to assume any other source of ideas than external and internal experience. Having listed the signs by which ideas are recognized as innate, he shows that these signs do not at all prove innateness. For example, universal recognition does not prove innateness if one can point to another explanation for the fact of universal recognition, and the very universality of recognition of a known principle is doubtful. Even if we assume that some principles are discovered by our mind, this does not at all prove their innateness. Locke does not at all deny, however, that our cognitive activity is determined by well-known laws characteristic of the human spirit. He, along with Descartes, recognizes two elements of knowledge - innate principles and external data; the first include reason and will. Reason is the faculty by which we receive and form ideas, both simple and complex, and the faculty of perceiving certain relations between ideas.

So, Locke differs from Descartes only in that he recognizes, instead of the innate potencies of individual ideas, general laws that lead the mind to the discovery of reliable truths, and then does not see a sharp difference between abstract and concrete ideas. If Descartes and Locke speak of knowledge in apparently different language, the reason for this is not a difference in their views, but a difference in their goals. Locke wanted to draw people's attention to experience, while Descartes occupied a more a priori element in human knowledge.

A noticeable, although less significant influence on Locke's views was exerted by the psychology of Hobbes, from whom, for example, the order of presentation of the Essay was borrowed. In describing the processes of comparison, Locke follows Hobbes; together with him, he argues that relations do not belong to things, but are the result of comparison, that there are countless relations, that the more important relations are identity and difference, equality and inequality, similarity and dissimilarity, contiguity in space and time, cause and effect. In his treatise on language, that is, in the third book of the Essay, Locke develops the thoughts of Hobbes. In his doctrine of the will, Locke is very dependent on Hobbes; together with the latter, he teaches that the desire for pleasure is the only one that runs through our entire mental life and that the concept of good and evil is completely different among different people. In the doctrine of free will, Locke, along with Hobbes, argues that the will inclines towards the strongest desire and that freedom is a power that belongs to the soul, not the will.

Finally, we should acknowledge a third influence on Locke, namely the influence of Newton. So, Locke cannot be seen as an independent and original thinker; for all the great merits of his book, there is a certain duality and incompleteness in it, stemming from the fact that he was influenced by so many different thinkers; This is why Locke’s criticism in many cases (for example, criticism of the ideas of substance and causality) stops halfway.

The general principles of Locke's worldview boiled down to the following. The eternal, infinite, wise and good God created a world limited in space and time; the world reflects the infinite properties of God and represents infinite diversity. The greatest gradualness is noticed in the nature of individual objects and individuals; from the most imperfect they pass imperceptibly to the most perfect being. All these beings are in interaction; the world is a harmonious cosmos in which every being acts according to its nature and has its own specific purpose. The purpose of man is to know and glorify God, and thanks to this, bliss in this and the next world.

Much of the Essay now has only historical significance, although Locke's influence on later psychology is undeniable. Although Locke, as a political writer, often had to touch upon issues of morality, he did not have a special treatise on this branch of philosophy. His thoughts about morality are distinguished by the same properties as his psychological and epistemological reflections: a lot of common sense, but no true originality and height. In a letter to Molyneux (1696), Locke calls the Gospel such an excellent treatise of morals that the human mind can be excused if it does not engage in studies of this kind. "Virtue" says Locke, “considered as a duty, is nothing other than the will of God, found by natural reason; therefore it has the force of law; as for its content, it consists exclusively in the requirement to do good to oneself and others; on the contrary, vice represents nothing more than the desire to harm oneself and others. The greatest vice is that which entails the most disastrous consequences; Therefore, all crimes against society are much more important than crimes against a private individual. Many actions that would be completely innocent in a state of solitude naturally turn out to be vicious in the social order.". Elsewhere Locke says that “It is human nature to seek happiness and avoid suffering”. Happiness consists of everything that pleases and satisfies the spirit; suffering consists of everything that worries, upsets and torments the spirit. To prefer transitory pleasure to long-lasting, permanent pleasure means to be the enemy of your own happiness.

Pedagogical ideas

He was one of the founders of the empiric-sensualist theory of knowledge. Locke believed that man has no innate ideas. He is born as a “blank slate” and ready to perceive the world around him through his feelings through internal experience - reflection.

“Nine-tenths of people become what they are only through education.” The most important tasks of education: character development, will development, moral discipline. The purpose of education is to raise a gentleman who knows how to conduct his affairs intelligently and prudently, an enterprising person, refined in his manners. Locke envisioned the ultimate goal of education as ensuring a healthy mind in a healthy body (“here is a brief but complete description of the happy state in this world”).

He developed a system for educating a gentleman, built on pragmatism and rationalism. The main feature of the system is utilitarianism: every item should prepare for life. Locke does not separate education from moral and physical education. Education should consist in ensuring that the person being educated develops physical and moral habits, habits of reason and will. The goal of physical education is to form the body into an instrument as obedient to the spirit as possible; the goal of spiritual education and training is to create a straight spirit that would act in all cases in accordance with the dignity of a rational being. Locke insists that children accustom themselves to self-observation, to self-restraint and to victory over themselves.

The upbringing of a gentleman includes (all components of upbringing must be interconnected):

• Physical education: promotes the development of a healthy body, courage and perseverance. Health promotion, fresh air, simple food, hardening, strict regime, exercises, games.
• Mental education should be subordinate to the development of character, the formation of an educated business person.
• Religious education should be directed not at teaching children to rituals, but at developing love and respect for God as a supreme being.
• Moral education is to cultivate the ability to deny oneself pleasures, go against one’s inclinations and unswervingly follow the advice of reason. Developing graceful manners and gallant behavior skills.
• Labor education consists of mastering a craft (carpentry, turning). Work prevents the possibility of harmful idleness.

The main didactic principle is to rely on the interest and curiosity of children in teaching. The main educational means are example and environment. Lasting positive habits are cultivated through gentle words and gentle suggestions. Physical punishment is used only in exceptional cases of daring and systematic disobedience. The development of will occurs through the ability to endure difficulties, which is facilitated by physical exercise and hardening.

Contents of training: reading, writing, drawing, geography, ethics, history, chronology, accounting, native language, French, Latin, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, fencing, horse riding, dancing, morality, the most important parts of civil law, rhetoric, logic, natural philosophy, physics - this is what an educated person should know. To this should be added knowledge of a craft.

The philosophical, socio-political and pedagogical ideas of John Locke constituted an entire era in the development of pedagogical science. His thoughts were developed and enriched by the progressive thinkers of France of the 18th century, and were continued in the pedagogical activities of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Russian educators of the 18th century, who, through the mouth of M.V. Lomonosov, called him among the “wisest teachers of mankind.”

Locke pointed out the shortcomings of his contemporary pedagogical system: for example, he rebelled against Latin speeches and poems that students were required to compose. Training should be visual, material, clear, without school terminology. But Locke is not an enemy of classical languages; he is only an opponent of the system of their teaching practiced in his time. Due to a certain dryness characteristic of Locke in general, he does not devote much space to poetry in the system of education he recommends.

Rousseau borrowed some of Locke's views from Thoughts on Education and carried them to extreme conclusions in his Emile.

Political ideas

• The state of nature is a state of complete freedom and equality in the disposal of one's property and one's life. This is a state of peace and goodwill. The law of nature dictates peace and security.
• The right to property is a natural right; Moreover, by property Locke understood life, liberty and property, including intellectual property. Liberty, according to Locke, is the freedom of a man to dispose and dispose, as he pleases, of his person, his actions... and all his property.” By freedom he understood, in particular, the right to freedom of movement, to free labor and to its results.
• Freedom, Locke explains, exists where everyone is recognized as “the owner of his own person.” The right to freedom, therefore, means that which was only implied in the right to life, present as its deep content. The right of freedom denies any relationship of personal dependence (the relationship between slave and slave owner, serf and landowner, slave and master, patron and client). If the right to life according to Locke prohibited slavery as an economic relationship, he interpreted even biblical slavery only as the owner’s right to entrust a slave with hard work, and not the right to life and liberty, then the right to freedom ultimately means the denial of political slavery, or despotism. The point is that in a reasonable society no person can be a slave, vassal or servant not only of the head of state, but also of the state itself or private, state, even one’s own property (that is, property in the modern understanding, different from Locke’s understanding ). A person can only serve law and justice.
• Supporter of constitutional monarchy and social contract theory.
• Locke is a theorist of civil society and a legal democratic state (for the accountability of the king and lords to the law).
• He was the first to propose the principle of separation of powers: legislative, executive and federal. The federal government deals with the declaration of war and peace, diplomatic issues and participation in alliances and coalitions.
• The state was created to guarantee natural law (life, liberty, property) and laws (peace and security), it should not encroach on natural law and the law, it should be organized so that natural law is reliably guaranteed.
• Developed ideas for a democratic revolution. Locke considered it legitimate and necessary for the people to rebel against a tyrannical government that encroaches on the natural rights and freedom of the people.

He is best known for developing the principles of the democratic revolution. The "right of the people to rise against tyranny" is most consistently developed by Locke in his Reflections on the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which was written with an avowed intention “to establish the throne of the great restorer of English freedom, King William, to remove his rights from the will of the people and to defend before the world the English people for their new revolution.”

Fundamentals of the rule of law

As a political writer, Locke is the founder of a school that seeks to build the state on the beginning of individual freedom. Robert Filmer in his “Patriarch” preached the unlimited power of royal power, deriving it from the patriarchal principle; Locke rebels against this view and bases the origin of the state on the assumption of a mutual agreement concluded with the consent of all citizens, and they, renouncing the right to personally defend their property and punish violators of the law, leave this to the state. The government consists of men chosen by common consent to see to the exact observance of the laws established for the preservation of the general liberty and welfare. Upon his entry into the state, a person is subject only to these laws, and not to the arbitrariness and caprice of unlimited power. The state of despotism is worse than the state of nature, because in the latter everyone can defend his right, but before a despot he does not have this freedom. Breaking a treaty empowers the people to reclaim their sovereign right. From these basic provisions the internal form of government is consistently derived. The state gains power:

To issue laws determining the amount of punishment for various crimes, that is, legislative power;

Punish crimes committed by members of the union, that is, executive power;

It does not have absolute, arbitrary power over the lives and property of citizens. This follows from the fact that she is vested only with those rights that are transferred to her by each member of society, and in the state of nature no one has arbitrary power either over his own life or over the lives and property of others. Man's innate rights are limited to what is necessary to protect himself and others; no one can give more to state power.

The legislator cannot act through private and arbitrary decisions; he must govern solely on the basis of constant laws, the same for everyone. Arbitrary power is completely incompatible with the essence of civil society, not only in a monarchy, but also in any other form of government. The supreme power does not have the right to take from anyone a part of his property without his consent, since people unite in societies to protect property, and the latter would be in a worse condition than before if the government could dispose of it arbitrarily. Therefore, the government does not have the right to collect taxes without the consent of the majority of the people or their representatives. The legislator cannot transfer his power into the hands of others; this right belongs to the people alone. Since legislation does not require constant activity, in well-organized states it is entrusted to an assembly of persons who, converging, make laws and then, diverging, obey their own decrees.

Execution, on the contrary, cannot stop; it is therefore awarded to permanent bodies. The latter are for the most part granted union power (

"federal power"

In "Letters on Toleration" and in "Reasonability of Christianity, as Delivered in the Scriptures," Locke passionately preaches the idea of ​​tolerance. He believes that the essence of Christianity lies in faith in the Messiah, which the apostles put in the foreground, demanding it with equal zeal from Jewish and pagan Christians. From this Locke concludes that exclusive privilege should not be given to any one church, because all Christian confessions agree in the belief in the Messiah. Muslims, Jews, and pagans can be impeccably moral people, although this morality must cost them more work than believing Christians. Locke most decisively insists on the separation of church and state. The state, according to Locke, only has the right to judge the conscience and faith of its subjects when the religious community leads to immoral and criminal acts.

In a draft written in 1688, Locke presented his ideal of a true Christian community, undisturbed by any worldly relations and disputes about confessions. And here he also accepts revelation as the basis of religion, but makes it an indispensable duty to tolerate any deviating opinion. The method of worship is left to everyone's choice. Locke makes an exception to the above views for Catholics and atheists. He did not tolerate Catholics because they have their head in Rome and therefore, as a state within a state, are dangerous to public peace and freedom. He could not reconcile with atheists because he firmly held to the concept of revelation, which was denied by those who deny God.

Bibliography

• Thoughts on education. 1691...what to study for a gentleman. 1703.
• The same “Thoughts on Education” with revision. spotted typos and working footnotes
• A Study of the Opinion of Father Malebranche...1694. Notes on Norris's books... 1693.
• Letters. 1697-1699.
• The censor's dying speech. 1664.
• Experiments on the law of nature. 1664.
• Experience of religious tolerance. 1667.
• A message of religious tolerance. 1686.
• Two treatises on government. 1689.
• An experience about human understanding. (1689) (translation: A. N. Savina)
• Elements of natural philosophy. 1698.
• Discourse on miracles. 1701.

Major works

• A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689).
• Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690).
• The Second Treatise of Civil Government (1690).
• Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693).

• Locke became one of the founders of the “Contractual” theory of the origin of the state.
• Locke was the first to formulate the principle of “Separation of Powers” ​​into legislative, executive and federal.
• One of the key characters in the famous television series Lost is named after John Locke.
• Also, the surname Locke was taken as a pseudonym by one of the heroes of Orson Scott Card’s series of science fiction novels “Ender’s Game.” In Russian translation the English name " Locke" incorrectly rendered as " Loki».
• Also, the main character in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1975 film "Profession: Reporter" bears the surname Locke.
• Locke's pedagogical ideas influenced the spiritual life of Russia in the mid-18th century.

Name: John Locke

Age: 72 years old

Activity: teacher, philosopher

Family status: wasn't married

John Locke: biography

In the 17th century, the first signs of freedom appeared in England. When theology and inferences were taught at universities, medieval philosophy was forgotten and natural sciences took their place. Also, the 17th century for England was a civil war, marked by a gradual transition from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one. At this time, the great English philosopher John Locke was born, whose works became the basis of universal philosophical practice.

Childhood and youth

The future philosopher was born in 1632 in the small village of Wrington, located near the county of Bristol.

The boy's father, John Locke, was one of the best lawyers in the area, who lived in prosperity.

John Sr. was a freedom-loving man; at the time when England was ruled by Charles I, he served as an army captain in Parliament. During the revolution, Locke Sr., due to unprecedented generosity, lost all his savings, giving money to the needy. Thus, the father taught his son that he should try to live for society.

From the biography of the scientist’s mother, all that is known is that her maiden name is King. More information about the woman who raised the philosopher did not reach his contemporaries.

The boy grew up in an oppositional family; neither his father nor his mother supported the absolute monarchy, nor did they support the regime of the dominant Anglican Church.

John's parents raised their son, each of them made their own contribution to the boy's development. Thus, from his father, Locke the Younger inherited a love of freedom and contempt for small everyday things, and from his mother, the philosopher inherited piety.

The woman was afraid of losing her children, because John’s brother died in infancy due to poor health. Therefore, Locke's mother lived in eternal fear of God and constantly prayed.

The boy was raised religiously and strictly, according to Puritan rules. For the most part, the boy was taken care of by his father, who developed his own method, which John Jr. later praised.

John Sr. kept his son at a great distance from him and in complete obedience. Then he slowly allowed the boy to approach, and the menacing tone and orders turned into everyday advice. Gradually, the “boss” and the “subordinate” became equal to each other and they were bound by a strong friendship.

Locke grew up as a gifted and well-read boy. His father's friend, Colonel Alexander Popham, advised John Jr. to be sent to Westminster School.

The philosopher's biographers say without exaggeration that Locke was the best student at school: the boy treated all subjects diligently and diligently.

In 1652, Locke entered the University of Oxford, where he studied medicine, Greek and Latin languages, literature, etc. The young student was taught natural science by Robert Boyle himself. During his university years, Locke began to become interested in the philosophy of the mathematician Rene Descartes, who became the beginning of the worldview that the student developed.

John Locke's interest was aroused by his teacher and mentor Robert Boyle.

Descartes taught Locke an aversion to empty, abstruse words that carry no meaning; throughout his life, John believed that brevity is the sister of talent.

Also, the future philosopher began to adhere to the teachings of John Wilkins, who was passionate about science, and the scientist Richard Lowe instilled in the young man a love of medicine.

Theory of knowledge

John Locke wrote his key book, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in 1690. Locke's teaching was furthered by scientific works on "innate ideas", which had their origins in the philosophy of the ancient Greek scientist, and then this theory was considered in the 17th century, whose works were studied by John Locke.

“Innate ideas” are human knowledge that cannot be acquired because they are not based on feelings. That is, those principles that lead to universal human consent by virtue of “instincts”.

But John Locke did not support this theory, but, on the contrary, came out with the opposite point of view in his essay on sensationalism. According to the philosopher, people choose certain ideas (for example, the discovery of medicine) not because of “innateness”, but because of usefulness. The scientist believed that the basis of human knowledge is life experience, which is built on sensory perceptions.

Complex ideas are developed by the mind and consist of simple ideas. And simple ideas arise as a result of an individual’s life experience: a person is a “blank sheet of paper” that is filled with life reflection.

Thus, John Locke disagrees with John Locke, who wrote that the soul is constantly thinking, and thinking is a permanent feature of the soul.

According to the English philosopher, knowledge is experience, and according to Descartes, thinking is an a priori state of man.

John Locke is the greatest English thinker of the 19th century, but all the scientist’s conclusions were developed not independently, but thanks to other figures. Therefore, despite the interesting interpretation of thought, John Locke is not at all an original author of a philosophical concept.

The influence of psychologist Thomas Hobbes and physicist can be traced in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.

Locke's concept is that the world, limited in time and space, is subordinate to a higher mind - God. Each creature interacts with others and has its own purpose. The purpose of man is to know and honor God, because of whom comes bliss on Earth and in the other world.

Pedagogy

After brilliantly graduating from Oxford University, Locke taught ancient languages ​​for a couple of years, but soon left this position, accepting the offer of Earl Anthony Ashley Cooper of Shafstbury. When Anthony was seriously ill, John Locke made the correct diagnosis. The grateful count invited John to work as a family doctor and raise two boys.

At that time, Locke writes letters to his friend Clark and expresses his opinion on education. Edward diligently collected the philosopher’s letters, which served as the basis for the pedagogical work “Thoughts on Education.”

John was sure that a person’s actions depend not on his own perception, but on upbringing, which develops a person’s character, will and moral discipline. Moreover, according to Locke, physical education should develop simultaneously with spiritual education. The physical is to develop hygiene and health, and the spiritual is to develop morality and dignity.

The thoughts expressed in letters to Clark reflect how Locke was raised by his father:

• Development of the body, adherence to strict discipline, daily routine and eating simple food;
• Developmental exercises and games;
• The child must go against desire and do what reason dictates and what does not contradict morality;
• From an early age children should be taught graceful manners;
• Physical punishment of a child takes place only with systematic disobedience and impudent behavior.

Political ideas

John Locke's political worldview is formed in childhood by his parents.

Of Locke’s political worldviews, the most famous is the idea of ​​a democratic revolution, expressed in the philosopher’s works: “The Right of the People to Revolt Against Tyranny” and “Reflections on the Glorious Revolution of 1688.”

According to the philosopher about the state, it must guarantee personal freedom and natural human rights. Locke says about government that representatives of government must be elected by the people, a person must obey generally accepted law, and not the arbitrariness and despotism of superiors.

John was also the first to put forward the idea of ​​separation of powers and was an adherent of social contract theory.

The state is obliged to guarantee the protection of every person and his property, as well as to resolve cases of a criminal nature. Thus, Locke formed the concept of a legal constitutional state and legislative power.

Personal life

In reclusion and loneliness, John Locke surpassed even. It would seem that the great philosopher is a worldly man who loves life. However, if Kant acquired a house and a servant by the end of his life, then Locke had neither one nor the other. John was a homeless man who spent his entire life in other people's houses as a teacher, an example is the story of Anthony.

John did not set himself the goal of acquiring a central activity; all his actions were fragmentary. He practiced medicine whenever anyone asked him to, studied politics whenever possible, etc.

John Locke was lonely

Pious John Locke did not betray the importance of the material world, but prepared for the future life, which, judging by the Holy Scriptures, awaits a person in the afterlife. This can be explained both by Locke’s piety and his poor health. Sometimes sick people live a long time, but are constantly preparing for death, evaluating themselves as guests in this world.

The scientist did not have a wife or children. Locke tried to combine two opposing concepts - religion and science.

Death

Locke spent the last years of his life in the country house of an acquaintance, Damerys Masham, who stood in for his daughter. The woman admired the philosopher, so Locke's moral teachings dominated her family.

In old age, Locke lost his hearing, which made him very sad, because he could not hear his interlocutors.

The philosopher died of asthma on October 28, 1704 at the age of 72. The scientist was buried near his last place of residence.

Quotes

• “Every passion has its origin in pleasure or pain.”
• “There is hardly anything more necessary for knowledge, for a quiet life and for the success of any business than a person’s ability to control his thoughts.”
• “True courage is expressed in calm self-control and in the calm performance of one’s duty, regardless of any calamity or danger.”
• “Twenty deeds can be forgiven sooner than one violation of the truth.”
• “In a poorly educated person, courage becomes rudeness...”

John Locke: basic ideas. John Locke - English philosopher

The teachings of John Locke had a significant influence on issues of philosophy, education, law and government that were relevant in the mid-17th century. He is the founder of a new political and legal doctrine, which later became known as the “doctrine of earlier bourgeois liberalism.

Biography

John Locke main ideas Locke was born in 1632 into a Puritan family. Educated at Westminster School and Christ Church College. In college, he began his scientific career as a teacher of Greek, philosophy and rhetoric. During this period, he became acquainted with the famous naturalist Robert Boyle. Together with him, Locke carried out metrological observations and studied chemistry in depth. Subsequently, John Locke seriously studied medicine and in 1668 became a member of the Royal Society of London. In 1667, John Locke met Lord Ashley Cooper. This extraordinary man was in opposition to the royal court and criticized the existing government. John Locke leaves teaching and settles on Lord Cooper's estate as his friend, companion and personal physician. Political intrigues and a failed attempt at a palace coup force Lord Ashley to hastily leave his native shores. Following him, John Locke emigrated to Holland. The main ideas that brought fame to the scientist were formed precisely in emigration. The years spent in a foreign country turned out to be the most fruitful in Locke's career. The changes that occurred in England at the end of the 17th century allowed Locke to return to his homeland. The philosopher willingly works with the new government and for some time holds important positions under the new administration. The post of responsible for trade and colonial affairs becomes the last in the scientist’s career. A lung disease forces him to retire, and he spends the rest of his life in the town of Ots, on the estate of his close friends.

Trace in philosophy

The scientist’s main philosophical work is known as “An Essay on Human Understanding.” The treatise reveals a system of empirical (experiential) philosophy. The basis for conclusions is not logical conclusions, but actual experience. So says John Locke. A philosophy of this kind was in conflict with the existing worldview system. In this work, the scientist argues that the basis for studying the world around us is sensory experience, and only through observation can one obtain reliable, real and obvious knowledge.

Trace in religion

The philosopher's scientific works also concern the arrangement of religious institutions that existed at that time in England. The well-known manuscripts are “A Defense of Nonconformism” and “An Essay Concerning Toleration,” authored by John Locke. The main ideas were outlined precisely in these unpublished treatises, and the entire system of the structure of the church, the problem of freedom of conscience and religion was presented in the “Epistle on Tolerance.” John Locke philosophy In this work, the right to freedom of conscience is secured for every person. The scientist calls on state institutions to recognize the choice of religion as the inalienable right of every citizen. The true church in its activities, according to the scientist, must be merciful and compassionate towards dissenters; the authority of the church and the teaching of the church must suppress violence in any form. However, the tolerance of believers should not extend to those who do not recognize the legal laws of the state, deny the moral norms of society and the very existence of the Lord, says John Locke. The main ideas of the “Message on Tolerance” are the equality of rights of all religious communities and the separation of state power from the church. “The Reasonability of Christianity as Presented in the Holy Scriptures” is a later work by the philosopher, in which he affirms the unity of God. Christianity, first of all, is a set of moral standards that every person should adhere to, says John Locke. The philosopher’s works in the field of religion enriched religious teachings with two new directions - English deism and latitudinarism - the doctrine of toleration. John Locke

Trace in the theory of state and law

J. Locke outlined his vision of the structure of a just society in his work “Two Treatises on Government.” The basis for the essay was the doctrine of the emergence of the state from the “natural” society of people. According to the scientist, at the beginning of its existence, humanity did not know wars, everyone was equal and “no one had more than the other.” However, in such a society there were no regulatory bodies that would eliminate disagreements, resolve property disputes, and administer a fair trial. In order to ensure civil rights, people formed a political community - the state. The peaceful formation of state institutions, based on the consent of all people, is the basis for the creation of a state system. So says John Locke. teachings of John Locke The main ideas of the state transformation of society were the formation of political and judicial bodies that would protect the rights of all people. The state retains the right to use force to protect itself from outside invasion, as well as to monitor compliance with internal laws. John Locke's theory, as outlined in this essay, asserts the right of citizens to remove a government that fails to perform its functions or abuses power.

Footprint in pedagogy

theory of John Locke “Thoughts on Education” - an essay by J. Locke, in which he argues that the environment has a decisive influence on the child. At the beginning of his development, the child is under the influence of parents and educators, who are moral models for him. As the child grows up, he gains freedom. The philosopher also paid attention to the physical education of children. Education, as stated in the essay, should be based on the use of practical knowledge necessary for life in a bourgeois society, and not on the study of scholastic sciences that have no practical use. This work was criticized by the Bishop of Worcester, with whom Locke repeatedly entered into polemics, defending his views.

Mark on history

Philosopher, jurist, religious leader, teacher and publicist - all this is John Locke. The philosophy of his treatises met the practical and theoretical needs of the new century - the century of Enlightenment, discoveries, new sciences and new state formations.

Locke's great merit as a philosopher was the development of the idea the experimental origin of human knowledge.

A categorical rejection of the traditional point of view on the innateness of human ideas and concepts, defense of the sensationalistic theory of knowledge, and great attention to empirical psychology allowed Locke to develop an interesting pedagogical system, which had a very great influence on the further development of pedagogy. Pedagogical ideas of J. Locke can be briefly represented as follows:

✓ a child from birth does not carry any innate ideas or defects;

✓ everything that is in a person’s consciousness is received by him thanks to sensations and his own experience;

✓ education is omnipotent, it only depends on it how a child will grow up;

✓ the main goal of education is human happiness, based on virtue;

✓ the health of the child is the first task of education;

✓ the example of others, the child’s exercises are more effective than any words;

✓ coercion in education should be abandoned;

✓ benefit - this is the principle that should guide education and training.

Locke contributed to pedagogy new principles:

✓ experience as the basis of education,

✓ practicality,

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Introduction

Chapter 1. The teachings of John Locke - origin, essence, meaning

1.1 John Locke and his teachings

1.2 The essence of the teachings of John Locke

2.1 Origins and content of John Locke's ideas

2.2 Complicating the experience. Types of knowledge and degrees of certainty

2.3 Man and the state. Religious issues

2.4 Ideal man

Conclusion

Literature

Introduction

Relevance of the research topic. If we try to characterize Locke as a thinker in the most general terms, then, first of all, we should say that he is a successor of the “line of Francis Bacon” in European philosophy of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Moreover, he can rightfully be called the founder of “British empiricism”, the creator of the theories of natural law and social contract, the doctrine of the separation of powers, which are the cornerstones of modern liberalism. Locke stood at the origins of the labor theory of value, which he used to apologize for bourgeois society and prove the inviolability of private property rights. He was the first to proclaim that “property created by labor can outweigh the common ownership of land, since it is labor that creates differences in the value of all things.” Locke did a lot to defend and develop the principles of freedom of conscience and religious tolerance. Finally, Locke created a theory of education that differed significantly from those developed by his predecessors, including the thinkers of the Renaissance.

This topic was chosen because Locke's philosophy had a huge influence on subsequent European thinkers. And this heritage needs a comprehensive analysis and study, which is undertaken by the author in this essay. V. And Lenin noted that Berkeley, Diderot and many others “emerged from Locke.” Northern American ideologists, including George Washington and the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, relied on his work. Thus, in Locke we have a philosopher whose work became a turning point in the development of economic, political, and ethical ideas in Europe and America.

Locke's spiritual heritage is quite impressive. The works he wrote include: “Elements of Natural Philosophy”, “An Essay on Tolerance”, “Two Treatises on Government”, “Some Thoughts on Education”, and finally, the famous treatise “An Essay on Human Understanding”. He also published many articles, letters, notes, which discuss issues of economics, politics, ethics, religion, and pedagogy. A number of works were published by Locke under false names (he always feared that he might suffer the fate of the Whig Algernon Sidney, who was hanged in the time of Charles II because the manuscript of the Discourse on Government, which defended the theory of the social contract, was found in his papers), and Today it is not possible to identify them.

The purpose of the work is the philosophical teachings of John Locke.

Based on the set goal, the following tasks were solved:

Consider the essence of the teachings of John Locke;

Analyze the origins and content of John Locke's ideas;

The work consists of two chapters:

Chapter 1. The teachings of John Locke - origin, essence, meaning:

John Locke and his teachings;

Chapter 2. Analysis and significance of the philosophical teachings of John Locke:

Complicating the experience. Types of knowledge and degrees of reliability.

Chapter 1. The teachings of John Locke - origin, essence, meaning

1.1 John Locke and his teachings

English philosopher John Locke, sometimes called the "intellectual leader of the 18th century." and the first philosopher of the Enlightenment was born on August 29, 1632 in Wrington (Somerset) in the family of a judicial official. His epistemology and social philosophy had a profound impact on cultural and social history, particularly on the development of the American Constitution. Thanks to Parliament's victory in the Civil War, in which his father fought as a cavalry captain, Locke was admitted at the age of 15 to Westminster School, then the leading educational institution in the country. The family adhered to Anglicanism, but were inclined to Puritan (Independent) views. At Westminster, royalist ideas found an energetic champion in Richard Buzby, who, through an oversight of parliamentary leaders, continued to run the school. In 1652 Locke entered Christ Church College, Oxford University. By the time of the Stuart restoration, his political views could be called right-wing monarchical and in many ways close to the views of Hobbes. (4;201)

Locke was a diligent, if not brilliant, student. After receiving his master's degree in 1658, he was elected a “student” (i.e., research fellow) of the college, but soon became disillusioned with the Aristotelian philosophy that he was supposed to teach, began to practice medicine and helped in natural science experiments conducted at Oxford by R. Boyle and his students. (6;247)

However, he did not obtain any significant results, and when Locke returned from a trip to the Brandenburg court on a diplomatic mission, he was denied the sought-after degree of doctor of medicine. Then, at the age of 34, he met a man who influenced his entire subsequent life - Lord Ashley, later the first Earl of Shaftesbury, who was not yet the leader of the opposition. Shaftesbury was an advocate of liberty at a time when Locke still shared Hobbes's absolutist views, but by 1666 his position had changed and became closer to the views of his future patron. Shaftesbury and Locke saw kindred spirits in each other. A year later, Locke left Oxford and took the place of family physician, adviser and educator in the Shaftesbury family, who lived in London (among his pupils was Anthony Shaftesbury). After Locke operated on his patron, whose life was threatened by a suppurating cyst, Shaftesbury decided that Locke was too great to practice medicine alone, and took care of promoting his charge in other areas. (5;347)

Under the roof of Shaftesbury's house, Locke found his true calling - he became a philosopher. Discussions with Shaftesbury and his friends (Anthony Ashley, Thomas Sydenham, David Thomas, Thomas Hodges, James Tyrrell) prompted Locke to write the first draft of his future masterpiece, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in his fourth year in London. Sydenham introduced him to new methods of clinical medicine. In 1668 Locke became a member of the Royal Society of London. Shaftesbury himself introduced him to the fields of politics and economics and gave him the opportunity to gain his first experience in public administration. (6; 211)

Shaftesbury's liberalism was quite materialistic. The great passion of his life was trade. He understood better than his contemporaries what kind of wealth - national and personal - could be obtained by freeing entrepreneurs from medieval extortions and taking a number of other bold steps. Religious tolerance allowed Dutch merchants to prosper, and Shaftesbury was convinced that if the English put an end to religious strife, they could create an empire not only superior to the Dutch, but equal in size to Rome. However, the great Catholic power France stood in the way of England, so he did not want to extend the principle of religious tolerance to the “papists,” as he called Catholics. (7;122)

While Shaftesbury was interested in practical matters, Locke was busy developing the same political line in theory, justifying the philosophy of liberalism, which expressed the interests of nascent capitalism. In 1675-1679 he lived in France (Montpellier and Paris), where he studied, in particular, the ideas of Gassendi and his school, and also carried out a number of assignments for the Whigs. It turned out that Locke's theory was destined for a revolutionary future, since Charles II, and even more so his successor James II, turned to the traditional concept of monarchical rule to justify their policy of tolerance towards Catholicism and even its planting in England. (1; 354) After an unsuccessful attempt to rebel against the restoration regime, Shaftesbury eventually, after imprisonment in the Tower and subsequent acquittal by a London court, fled to Amsterdam, where he soon died. Having made an attempt to continue his teaching career at Oxford, Locke in 1683 followed his patron to Holland, where he lived from 1683-1689; in 1685, in the list of other refugees, he was named a traitor (participant in the Monmouth conspiracy) and was subject to extradition to the English government. Locke did not return to England until William of Orange's successful landing on the English coast in 1688 and the flight of James II.

Returning to his homeland on the same ship with the future Queen Mary II, Locke published the work Two Treatises of Government (1689, the book is dated 1690), outlining the theory of revolutionary liberalism. A classic work in the history of political thought, the book also played an important role, in the words of its author, in “vindicating the right of King William to be our ruler.” In this book, Locke put forward the concept of the social contract, according to which the only true basis for the power of the sovereign is the consent of the people. If the ruler does not live up to the trust, people have the right and even the obligation to stop obeying him. In other words, people have the right to revolt. But how to decide when exactly a ruler stops serving the people? According to Locke, such a point occurs when a ruler passes from rule based on fixed principle to "fickle, uncertain, and arbitrary" rule. Most Englishmen were convinced that such a moment had come when James II began to pursue a pro-Catholic policy in 1688. Locke himself, along with Shaftesbury and his entourage, were convinced that this moment had already arrived under Charles II in 1682; It was then that the manuscript of the Two Treatises was created. (4; 314)

Locke marked his return to England in 1689 with the publication of another work similar in content to the Treatises, namely the first Letter for Toleration, written mainly in 1685. He wrote the text in Latin (Epistola de Tolerantia) in order to publish it in Holland, and by chance the English text included a preface (written by the Unitarian translator William Pople), which declared that “absolute freedom ... is what we need." Locke himself was not a supporter of absolute freedom. (6;87) From his point of view, Catholics deserved persecution because they swore allegiance to a foreign ruler, the pope; atheists - because their oaths cannot be trusted. (6;197) As for everyone else, the state must reserve for everyone the right to salvation in their own way. In his Letter on Toleration, Locke opposed the traditional view that secular power had the right to enforce true faith and true morality. He wrote that force can only force people to pretend, but not to believe. And strengthening morality (in that it does not affect the security of the country and the preservation of peace) is the responsibility of the church, not the state.

Locke himself was a Christian and adhered to Anglicanism. But his personal creed was surprisingly brief and consisted of one single proposition: Christ is the Messiah. In ethics, he was a hedonist and believed that man's natural goal in life was happiness, and that the New Testament showed people the way to happiness in this life and the eternal life. Locke saw his task as warning people who seek happiness in short-term pleasures, for which they subsequently have to pay with suffering. (10;201)

Returning to England during the Glorious Revolution, Locke initially intended to take up his post at Oxford University, from which he was dismissed on the orders of Charles II in 1684 after leaving for Holland. However, upon discovering that the position had already been given to a certain young man, he abandoned the idea and devoted the remaining 15 years of his life to scientific research and public service. Locke soon found himself famous, not for his political writings, which were published anonymously, but as the author of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, first published in 1690, but begun in 1671 and largely completed in 1686. The experiment went through a number of editions during the author’s lifetime; the last fifth edition, containing corrections and additions, was published in 1706, after the death of the philosopher. (1;211)

It is no exaggeration to say that Locke was the first modern thinker. His way of reasoning differed sharply from the thinking of medieval philosophers. The consciousness of medieval man was filled with thoughts about the otherworldly world. Locke's mind was distinguished by practicality, empiricism, this is the mind of an enterprising person, even a layman: “What is the use,” he asked, “of poetry?” He lacked the patience to understand the intricacies of the Christian religion. He did not believe in miracles and was disgusted by mysticism. I did not believe people to whom saints appeared, as well as those who constantly thought about heaven and hell. Locke believed that a person should fulfill his duties in the world in which he lives. “Our lot,” he wrote, “is here, in this small place on Earth, and neither we nor our worries are destined to leave its boundaries.”

Locke was far from despising London society, in which he moved thanks to the success of his writings, but he was unable to endure the stuffiness of the city. (6; 345) For most of his life he suffered from asthma, and after sixty he suspected that he was suffering from consumption. In 1691 he accepted an offer to settle in a country house in Ots (Essex) - an invitation from Lady Masham, the wife of a member of Parliament and the daughter of the Cambridge Platonist Ralph Kedworth. However, Locke did not allow himself to completely relax in the cozy home atmosphere; in 1696 he became Commissioner for Trade and Colonies, which forced him to appear regularly in the capital.

By this time he was the intellectual leader of the Whigs, and many parliamentarians and statesmen often turned to him for advice and requests. Locke participated in monetary reform and contributed to the repeal of laws that impeded freedom of the press. He was one of the founders of the Bank of England. In Otse, Locke raised Lady Masham's son and corresponded with Leibniz. (1; 366) I. Newton visited him there, with whom they discussed the letters of the Apostle Paul. However, his main occupation in this last period of his life was preparing for the publication of numerous works, the ideas of which he had previously nurtured.

Locke's works include A Second Letter Concerning Toleration, 1690; A Third Letter for Toleration, 1692; Some Thoughts Concerning Education, 1693; The Reasonability of Christianity, as Delivered in the Scriptures, 1695) and many others.

In 1700 Locke refused all positions and retired to Ots. Locke died at Lady Masham's house on October 28, 1704.

1.2 The essence of John Locke's teachings

English philosopher, founder of liberalism. In his “Essay on Human Understanding” (1689), he developed an empirical theory of knowledge. Rejecting the existence of innate ideas, he argued: all human knowledge stems from experience. He developed the doctrine of primary and secondary qualities and the theory of the formation of general ideas (abstractions). Locke's socio-political concept is based on natural law and the theory of social contract. In pedagogy, he proceeded from the decisive influence of the environment on education. Founder of associative psychology.

The main goal of education is to ensure the happiness of the individual, as well as to prepare a person for life; development of children's understanding and ability to make independent judgments. (3; 135)

Education should teach a person to control himself.

The teacher must be respectable and well-trained (a true gentleman is raised at home).

Good is that which can cause or increase pleasure, reduce pain, and protect from evil. Evil is something that can cause or increase suffering, reduce pleasure, or deprive someone of good.

The main task of moral education is to develop a strong will and the ability to restrain unreasonable desires. Raising a gentleman (a person who is happy through the happiness of other people). (1;258)

Physical education is of great importance. developed a system of a healthy mind in a healthy body. It is necessary to harden the child’s body from early childhood, to ensure that he can easily endure fatigue, adversity, and change. He substantiated the importance of a strict regime in a child’s life, giving advice on clothing, food, walks, and sports. Knowledge should be given a practical nature. He recommended that every student should engage in some kind of craft or gardening and agriculture, as well as perfumery, varnishing and engraving. The need for labor education was motivated by the fact that working in the fresh air is good for health, and knowledge of crafts can be useful to a business person as an entrepreneur. Work prevents the possibility of harmful idleness. (4;257) Locke teaching psychology philosophical

Locke is considered the father of Western liberalism, the theorist of constitutional monarchy and the separation of powers into legislative, executive (including judicial) and federal (external relations), which are in a state of dynamic equilibrium in a properly structured state. Unlike Thomas Hobbes, who interpreted the state of nature of society as a war of all against all, Locke considered such a state of freedom and equality of people living by their own labor. However, he believed that the main natural right of people is the right to property; it must be secured with the help of reasonable laws in order to eliminate the occurrence of conflicts. (1;97) For this, according to Locke, a political society is created through a social contract, forming a government responsible in front of the people. Locke was a strong opponent of theories of the divine origin of royal power. Elements of his political philosophy formed the basis of the ideology and practice of the American and French revolutions. (3;205)

Chapter 2. Analysis and significance of the philosophical teachings of John Locke

2.1 Origins and content of John Locke's ideas

Locke rejects the theory of innate ideas, in particular the facts of history and geography, and the doctrine of the innateness of the fundamental principles of morality and religion (including the idea of ​​God). Locke shows that there is never universal agreement among people regarding first principles (even the basic laws of logic), and the self-evidence of some truths (for example, the truths of arithmetic) does not yet indicate their innateness. (6; 236)

The basis of all knowledge, according to Locke, are two types of sensory experience: external and internal. External objects, acting on the senses, give rise to simple ideas; the soul is passive, it is a blank slate on which experience writes its writings in the form of sensations or sensory images of things and their qualities. Inner experience is based on reflection on the soul’s own activity. The assumption of reflection as a special source of knowledge was considered by some of Locke's successors in the 18th century. (for example, E. Condillac) as the main inconsistency of his sensualist theory. (7;322)

Following R. Boyle, Locke develops the theory of primary and secondary qualities. By quality he means the power (or ability) of an object to evoke its idea in the mind. Primary qualities are density, extension, shape, movement, rest, volume, number, all these are real entities, properties objectively inherent in things; they are studied by the exact sciences. Secondary qualities are colors, tastes, smells, sounds, temperature qualities, all these are nominal entities; the ideas they evoke have no direct resemblance to bodies. These qualities depend on the primary ones and are realized in the presence of a number of conditions (for example, to perceive the color of a certain object, this object itself with certain primary qualities, sufficient illumination of the room and the normal functioning of the human visual apparatus are necessary). (6;87)

2.2 Complicating the experience. Types of knowledge and degrees of certainty

Through association, simple ideas of internal and external experience are combined into complex ones. This is how three types of complex ideas arise: ideas of substances, modes and relations (temporal, causal, identity and difference). In the formation of complex ideas, the soul, according to Locke, is active. Any specific idea must be associated with a sign. Words are sensory signs of ideas necessary for communication and transmission of thoughts; in Locke's philosophy of language, ideas function as the meanings of words. Being a moderate nominalist, he believed that general terms (concepts) are signs of general ideas, which are separated by the circumstances of place and time. Locke's theory of the formation of abstractions was called traditional and was subsequently repeatedly criticized. (3;214)

Locke was one of the first scientists in Western European philosophy to pose the problem of personal identity, distinguishing between the identity of a person (the identity of continuously changing particles united with the same organism) and the identity of the individual as a rational being endowed with self-consciousness (the latter in Locke is close to memory); in this sense, personality can be preserved even with a change in bodily substance.

Locke distinguished three types of knowledge according to the degree of their reliability: sensory knowledge of individual things; demonstrative (evidential), i.e. knowledge of the correspondence or inconsistency of ideas with each other, achieved indirectly (i.e. through reasoning, including syllogistic conclusions); intuitive, most reliable knowledge? the mind's immediate perception of the agreement or inconsistency of several ideas. (1;378) Locke’s interpretation of intuition, however, is simplified; its result is trivial judgments such as white is not black, three is greater than two, the whole is greater than the part, etc.

2.3 Man and state. Religious issues

He discusses in great detail how human society and culture arose, what laws determine the existence of society, what functions are performed by art, science, religion and law, what is the role of language in the formation of man as a social being. (9; 374)

It must be said right away that the founder of English sensationalism offers a different concept of society and state than Hobbes, although the starting points for both are the same. Locke proceeds from the fact that the state of nature in which people lived at the dawn of their history does not at all represent a “war of all against all,” as Hobbes wrote about it. From his point of view, initially goodwill and mutual support reigned in human society, because there were few people and everyone owned a piece of land that he and his relatives were able to cultivate. The individual owned the property that he himself created and did not encroach on the property of his own kind. In other words, Locke believes that private property exists initially, and does not arise at a certain stage in the development of human society. Thus, the starting premise for Locke is one of the basic provisions of the philosophy of history, formulated by the ideologists of the English bourgeois revolution in the middle of the 17th century, and which, by the way, is still contained in the ideological arsenal of apologists of liberalism. (3; 144)

So, society in the state of nature in Locke looks like a society organized on the basis of the principles of equality, justice, and the independence of people from each other. In this society, relations between individuals are regulated by the norms of morality and religion, but not by law, about which people in a state of nature know nothing. But, as individual members of society accumulate property, they have a desire to subjugate their own kind, who naturally resist this. The second prerequisite for discord in society and the destruction of the harmony of relations is the rapid increase in population. When there is a shortage of land, each sees in the other not a comrade, but an enemy who dreams of taking possession of a share of property that does not belong to him. This is how a state of “war of all against all” arises, which lasts until people realize the abnormality of the current state of affairs.

In the process of searching for a way out of this situation, they ultimately come to the idea of ​​​​the need to establish a state, to which the powers are delegated to establish peace by force and protect the property and lives of owners. This consent is the “social contract” on which the entire pyramid of power, economic and legal relations of modern society rests. (10;57)

Thus, the state, according to Locke, is an artificial, i.e., cultural formation created by the will and actions of people.

It follows from this that the genesis of the state repeats the genesis of culture itself, and the forms of the state correspond to certain forms of culture. The latter, according to Locke’s views, does not exist initially; it is not given from above, but is created by people in the process of their historical practice. (6;315)

Locke's solution to the problem of religion is also close to Hobbes's. Locke recognizes it as an integral part of the state machine and believes that it performs important social functions that other social institutions, in particular morality and law, are unable to perform. But he, unlike Hobbes, does not consider religion a cultural phenomenon.

Faith, in his understanding, is a manifestation of the creative power of the Lord. It does not arise in the process of human practice and no epistemological needs of man can explain its appearance. It should be noted that Locke put forward his own version of the cosmological proof of the existence of God, however, repeating in many ways the pattern of reasoning of Newton, who believed that besides God it was impossible to find any source of activity of matter and consciousness. Locke had a sharply negative attitude towards atheists and even proposed depriving them of civil rights, because atheists, from his point of view, being born skeptics, lose the ability to obey, do not value the state at all and, ultimately, morally degrade, becoming dangerous to others, law-abiding and God-fearing individuals.

In fairness, it must be said that, being a deist in his religious beliefs, Locke did not believe that faith had the right of priority over scientific thought. Moreover, he insisted that everything incomprehensible to reason should be rejected, but this did not prevent him from taking an extremely reactionary position when it came to the church as an instrument of the state. (1;266)

From the point of view of the founder of English sensationalism, language is, first of all, the result of human creation, although God also had a hand in its creation.

However, the role of the Lord was only that he endowed man with the ability to articulate speech. After all, words were created by man himself. He also established connections between them, as well as between the objects that they represent. Thus, already in his interpretation of the origin of language, as we see, Locke quite fundamentally disagrees with Hobbes, who assigned God a much more significant role in the creation of speech.

Locke believes that if man had not had the ability to make sounds signs of ideas born in his brain, and if people had not been endowed with the ability to make sounds general signs understandable to others, then speech would never have arisen and people to this day have not could communicate with each other. But they have these rare abilities, which primarily distinguish them from those animals and birds, for example, parrots, that are capable of pronouncing articulate sounds. In other words, according to Locke, human speech arises as a consequence of the existence in people of an innate ability for abstraction and generalization, originally given by providence, the ability to connect together an object with its nature thanks to the word. (4; 196)

Words, from Locke's point of view, are directly related to sensible ideas. So, for example, the word “spirit” in its primary meaning is “breath”, “angel”, “messenger”. In the same way, other words denote certain ideas that arise in a person as a result of sensory exploration of the world or as a result of the internal actions of our spirit. Thus, the basis for the emergence of language is experience, direct sensory contact with objects of the real or ideal world. (9;311)

Locke describes in detail how general concepts are born/how language develops. He also explains the fact of the existence of many languages, which represented a stumbling block for many of his predecessors who dealt with this issue. He also offers a solution to a number of other complex problems that until now are in the focus of attention of linguists and linguists. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Locke developed an original theory of language, which occupies a worthy place among other concepts created in much later years. (3;207)

2.4 Ideal man

Without going into details, let's say right away that Locke rethought the concept of the “ideal of man.” The ultimate goal of education, the “cultivation” of an individual, from his point of view, should not be a comprehensively and harmoniously developed personality, but a person with impeccable manners, practical in character, able to control his passions and emotions. (9; 277) In other words, the human ideal is an English gentleman with all his inherent personal characteristics. Locke, in his two treatises on education, talks in great detail about what a child should eat and drink, what clothes it is preferable to dress him in, how to develop his talents and abilities and prevent the manifestation of bad inclinations, how to protect him from the corrupting influence of servants, what games should he play and what books should he read, etc. It is worth noting that Locke's pedagogical views were clearly ahead of his time. For example, he strongly objects to the constant use of corporal punishment, believing that "this method of maintaining discipline, which is widely used by educators and accessible to their understanding, is the least suitable of all conceivable." The use of spanking as a means of persuasion, in his opinion, “generates in the child an aversion to what the teacher should force him to love,” gradually turns him into a secretive, evil, insincere creature, whose soul is ultimately inaccessible to a kind word and a positive example.

Locke also objects to the widespread practice of petty regulation of child behavior in those days. He believes that a young creature is simply not able to remember the numerous rules that etiquette prescribes, and therefore getting him to remember them through corporal punishment is simply unreasonable and reprehensible from an ethical point of view. Locke is convinced that a child should be natural in his manifestations, that he does not need to copy in his behavior adults, for whom adherence to etiquette is a necessity, and knowledge of the norms of behavior in a given situation is a kind of indicator that distinguishes a well-mannered person from an ill-mannered one. “While children are small,” writes Locke, “their lack of civility in their manners, if they are only characterized by inner delicacy... should be the least of parents’ concerns.”

The main thing that a teacher should strive for, Locke argues, is to form in the child an idea of ​​honor and shame. (4;185) “If you succeeded,” he writes, “to teach children to value a good reputation and fear shame and disgrace, then you have invested in them the right principle, which will always manifest its effect and incline them to goodness.. “I see this as the great secret of education.”

Considering the question of methods of education, Locke gives a special place to dancing. They, from his point of view, “give children decent confidence and ability to behave and thus prepare them for the society of their elders.” Dancing in his eyes is equivalent to physical training, education and philosophical reflection, which together, when used correctly, give the desired result. Speaking about methods, Locke emphasizes that the efforts of the educator then bring success if there is trust and respect for each other between him and the person being educated. He writes: “Whoever wants his son to respect him and his instructions must himself treat his son with great respect.” Such a formulation of the question of the relationship between teacher and student was extremely radical for that time, and many reproached Locke for destroying traditions and undermining the authority of teachers with his reasoning. (3; 185)

A gentleman, from Locke's point of view, must be able not only to behave impeccably, but also to speak elegantly and write accurately. Among other things, he must speak foreign languages, including those in which treatises of previous centuries were written - Greek and Latin, and from the “living” languages ​​for study, one should choose the one that is useful to the gentleman for communication and business contacts. A gentleman, from Locke's point of view, should be an excellent horseman and swordsman. (10; 233)

Owning other types of weapons is also not superfluous, for he needs to be able to defend his honor and the honor of his loved ones, but learning poetry and music is not at all, according to Locke, mandatory. The author of Thoughts on Education admits that these skills are highly valued in aristocratic society, but so much time must be spent on them that this expenditure is not rewarded by the result obtained. Moreover, as Locke writes, “I have so rarely heard any able or business man praised and appreciated for excellence in music, that I think among the things that have ever been included in the list of secular talents, she the last place could be given.” Finally, an English gentleman must be God-fearing, knowledgeable and respectful of the laws of his country.

Conclusion

The significance of Locke's legacy is not limited to purely theoretical aspects: his philosophy of politics contributed to the development of a conceptual understanding of the American and French revolutions; the theory of natural inalienable human rights served as a guide for the authors of the American Constitution, and the concept of separation of powers became one of the sources of European constitutionalism. Locke's political philosophy is based on an optimistic vision of human nature, which is much more moderate and attractive than the concept of the egoistic man of T. Hobbes. Locke argued: in the state of nature, people are mutually benevolent, free and equal, which means they do not fight.

In the natural state, human behavior is regulated by moral and ethical laws, divine institutions, i.e. laws of nature.

For Locke, war is unnatural, because it is “a state of hostility and destruction” and begins when one person tries to completely subjugate another to his power, which is interpreted as “an announcement of intent against ... life,” against all rights and freedoms. Those exposed to these threats are forced to fight in self-defense. Of greatest interest for understanding the liberal political doctrine of this thinker are “Two Treatises on Government,” where, in addition to criticizing R. Filmer’s absolutist dogma on the divinity of royal power, a scheme for reconciling the principles of citizen freedom and political order is outlined.

The starting point of Locke's doctrine is the independence of the individual, which determines theses about labor as the basis and justification of property, about the contractual nature of the powers of the state.

Locke's philosophy had a strong influence on the subsequent development of the Anglo-Saxon philosophical tradition (including the development of analytical philosophy in the 20th century), on the formation of the ideas of the Western European Enlightenment, in particular, deism.

Literature

1. Locke J. Works: In 2 vols. - T. 2. - M., 2001

2. Lenin V.I. Full personal Op. -- T.18. -- P.127.

3. Locke J. Thoughts on education // Works: In 3 volumes - T.Z. -- M., 2001

4. Zaichenko G. A. John Locke. M., 2004

5. Zaichenko G.A. “Locke. Essay on creativity.” - M., 2003

6.Narsky I.S. “The Philosophy of D. Locke” - M., 2004

7. Philosophical Dictionary, M., 2004

8. Philosophy: Textbook for higher educational institutions., Rostov n\D, 2004

9. Shabaeva M.F. “Pedagogical theory of D. Locke”, M. 2004

10. Blonsky P.P. “Selected pedagogical and psychological works.” Edited by A.V. Petrovsky M., 2003

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