Why do so many contemporary "economists" quote John Locke?
Let's investigate who he was:
John Locke (1632-1704)
"Though the familiar use of the Things about us, takes off our Wonder; yet it cures not our Ignorance."
---An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (III. vi. 9)
"...he that will not give just occasion to think that all government in the world is the product only of force and violence, and that men live together by no other rules but that of beasts, where the strongest carries it...must of necessity find another rise of government, another original of political power..."
---from The Second Treatise of Civil Government
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John Locke was an Oxford scholar, medical researcher and physician, political operative, economist and idealogue for a revolutionary movement, as well as being one of the great philosophers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. His monumental Essay Concerning Human Understanding aims to determine the limits of human understanding. Earlier writers such as Chillingworth had argued that human understanding was limited, Locke tries to determine what those limits are. We can, he thinks, know with certainty that God exists. We can also know about morality with the same precision we know about mathematics, because we are the creators of moral and political ideas. In regard to natural substances we can know only the appearances and not the underlying realities which produce those appearances. Still, the atomic hypothesis with its attendant distinction between primary and secondary qualities is the most plausible available hypothesis.
Locke's Two Treatises of Civil Government were published after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought William of Orange and Mary to the throne, but they were written in the throes of the Whig revolutionary plots against Charles II in the early 1680s. In this work Locke gives us a theory of natural law and natural rights which he uses to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and to argue for the legitimacy of revolt against tyrannical governments.
Locke wrote on a variety of other topics Among the most important of these is toleration. Henry VIII had created a Church of England when he broke with Rome. This Church was the official religion of England. Catholics and dissenting Protestants, e.g Quakers, Unitarians and so forth, were subject to legal prosecution. During much of the Restoration period there was debate, negotiation and manuevering to include dissenting Protestants within the Church of England. In a "Letter Concerning Toleration" and several defenses of that letter Locke argues for a separation between church and state.
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Source: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/locke.html
John Locke (1632-1704)
"Though the familiar use of the Things about us, takes off our Wonder; yet it cures not our Ignorance."
---An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (III. vi. 9)
"...he that will not give just occasion to think that all government in the world is the product only of force and violence, and that men live together by no other rules but that of beasts, where the strongest carries it...must of necessity find another rise of government, another original of political power..."
---from The Second Treatise of Civil Government
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Locke was an Oxford scholar, medical researcher and physician, political operative, economist and idealogue for a revolutionary movement, as well as being one of the great philosophers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. His monumental Essay Concerning Human Understanding aims to determine the limits of human understanding. Earlier writers such as Chillingworth had argued that human understanding was limited, Locke tries to determine what those limits are. We can, he thinks, know with certainty that God exists. We can also know about morality with the same precision we know about mathematics, because we are the creators of moral and political ideas. In regard to natural substances we can know only the appearances and not the underlying realities which produce those appearances. Still, the atomic hypothesis with its attendant distinction between primary and secondary qualities is the most plausible available hypothesis.
Locke's Two Treatises of Civil Government were published after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought William of Orange and Mary to the throne, but they were written in the throes of the Whig revolutionary plots against Charles II in the early 1680s. In this work Locke gives us a theory of natural law and natural rights which he uses to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and to argue for the legitimacy of revolt against tyrannical governments.
Locke wrote on a variety of other topics Among the most important of these is toleration. Henry VIII had created a Church of England when he broke with Rome. This Church was the official religion of England. Catholics and dissenting Protestants, e.g Quakers, Unitarians and so forth, were subject to legal prosecution. During much of the Restoration period there was debate, negotiation and manuevering to include dissenting Protestants within the Church of England. In a "Letter Concerning Toleration" and several defenses of that letter Locke argues for a separation between church and state.
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Source: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/locke.html
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Oxford:
Historic Oxford Tours
Catholic Oxford. This tour aims to introduce the Catholic heritage of the University and city. It ranges from the middle ages through the reformation and ...www.historicoxfordtours.co.uk/ - Cached - Similar
Oxford movement: Definition from Answers.com
The Oxford Movement was a religious revival in the Church of England (1833) that emphasized the church's Catholic heritage in doctrine, polity, and worship. ...www.answers.com/topic/oxford-movement - Cached - Similar
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Catholic Oxford: This Website
1609 Douay translation of the Bible, prepared mainly by Catholic Oxford scholars working overseas, appears, two years before King James' 'Authorized ...www.catholicoxford.com/ - Cached - Similar
1609 Douay translation of the Bible, prepared mainly by Catholic Oxford scholars working overseas, appears, two years before King James' 'Authorized ...www.catholicoxford.com/ - Cached - Similar
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Catholic Heritage Participating Institutions Society of Jesus ...
Campion Hall was founded at Oxford in 1896. Many Jesuit missions became parishes ... Holdings of the Society of Jesus accessible through Catholic Heritage ...www.catholic-heritage.net/.../tabid/140/Default.aspx - Cached - Similar
Catholic Heritage Participating Institutions Society of Jesus ...
Campion Hall was founded at Oxford in 1896. Many Jesuit missions became parishes ... Holdings of the Society of Jesus accessible through Catholic Heritage ...www.catholic-heritage.net/.../tabid/140/Default.aspx - Cached - Similar
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