SECOND TREATISE

One of the most significant Enlightenment theorists. Locke is similarly essential to social contract theory as one of the first British empiricists, following in the footsteps of Sir Francis Bacon. His work had a significant impact on epistemology and political philosophy. Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as numerous Scottish Enlightenment philosophers and American Revolutionaries, were affected by his writings.

The United States Declaration of Independence acknowledges his contributions to classical republicanism and liberal ideology. [15] Locke's political-legal principles have had a lasting impact on the theory and practise of limited representative government and the safeguarding of fundamental rights and freedoms under the rule of law around the world.

Locke's theory of mind is frequently credited with establishing contemporary concepts of identity and the self, with other thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant citing it as a major influence. Locke was the first to define the self in terms of awareness continuity. He proposed that the mind was a blank slate, or tabula rasa, at birth.

Locke claimed that "whatever I write, as soon as I discover it not to be true, my hand shall be the first to toss it into the fire," demonstrating the science idea that something must be capable of being tested repeatedly and that nothing is immune from being disproved. This is just one illustration of Locke's empiricism.

The subject matter of modern psychology has been greatly affected by Locke's theory of association. Other philosophers, such as David Hume and George Berkeley, were inspired by Locke's recognition of two types of ideas, simple and complex—and, more importantly, their interaction through associationism—to revise and expand this theory and apply it to explain how humans gain knowledge in the real world.