John Locke
Life
John Locke was born on August 29 1632 in Wrington, Somerset, England. He entered Westminster School in London in 1647, earned a position as a King's Scholar, and six years later in 1652 he enrolled in Oxford Christ Church.
After graduating from Oxford Christ Church in 1656, he would go on to complete a Master of Arts at the college before become a resident tutor. In the following years his relationship with Earl of Shaftsbury, his economic and political clout grew.
By 1671 he was a major investor in the Royal African Company which was at the time one of the biggest slave traders of Europe. However, in 1683 Locke fled from England to avoid being implicated in the Rye House Plot, a failed plot to kill King Charles II and his brother James.
As a founding member of the Whig party he is often credited for much of its growth when he returned to England, following the exile of Charles II.
Works
His most significant work is certainly his Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1690. In four books the work lays the foundation for future empiricist and enlightenment thought.
Other notable works are his Two Treaties of Government in1689, A Letter Concerning Toleration in the same year, and Some Thoughts Concerning Education in 1693.
Death
Locke succumbed to a chronic sickness on October 28 1704 and died in Essex.