IntroductionAs you will read throughout the poster, John Locke was an influential Enlightenment thinker whose ideas can still be applied and taught today. As beginning rhetoric students, learning about various philosophers can be daunting, but the following information will provide a peek into the highlights of his life, and the ideas that he proposed.

BiographyJJohn Locke was born on August 29th, 1632 to a pair of puritans in England. Locke grew up in an environment where civil war was brewing, and his parents were actively involved. Having a sponsor paying for his education, Locke went to school at Christ Church, Oxford. Eventually geing a bachelor of medicine, he became the physician to the Earl of Shastesbury. This allowed Locke to understand politics and serve on a boards that focused on topics such as economics, trade, and colonialism. This knowledge, as well as knowledge gaingained om traveling around europe and living under different types of governments, allowed Locke to became well versed in politics and helped him theorize what he thought was best when it came to them.

EpistemologyA strong proponent of empiricism, Locke thought that knowledge came solely through experience and experience was gathered through the collection of data through the senses. Knowledge was then split up into parts like intuitive and demonstrative. Intuitive knowledge could never be proven, it is just known within a person’s mind. On the other hand, demonstrative knowledges requires proof to be deemed true. This can be seen through arguing and the use of facts when proving a point.

DueDue to his ideas on knowledge, Locke considered language a secondary epistemic function. This meant that language isn’t used to create ideas or knowledge, but to convey them. The knowledge came through collecting information om the senses, and then processed and conveyed through language.

AAbstraction was an idea that Locke used to aid in memory and the act of retaining information. The concept behind it was that when information is stored within the brain, it automatically forms connections to create categories and associations. It can be imagined as a pyramid, with a broad topic at the top and then branching out and geing more specific with each step down.

Locke had an idealistic notion that rhetoric can be used to create change by using evidence and telling a story to the listener. By gathering evidence and using it to create imagery, thoughts and ideas could be eand ideas could be exchanged.

ContextJJohn Locke came om a very tumultuous period in history. Political unrest was consistent throughout his life, om Charles I being overthrown by Oliver Cromwell, and having to flee to the Netherlands to escape a monarchy who found his works revolutionary and disrupting of the current status quo. Due to this, Locke continuously worked throughout his life to envision a government system that focused more on becoming more representative of the will of the people and the separation of powers. FFrancis Bacon and Rene Descartes were also two men who Locke drew inspiration and theories om. For example, Descartes also agreed that knowledge was considered intuitive. Bacon’s purpose for rhetoric greatly inspired and helped Locke find where rhetoric fit into his own life.

Notable IdeasJJohn Locke became famous for his radical idea of tabula rasa. Tabula rasa, also known as the blank slate theory, says that everyone is born with no knowledge within their brains and learn through experience throughout their life. This pushed the notion that everyone is born equal and no one person is beer or worth more than another.

TheThe social contract is another idea that Locke is associated with. The social contract is a contract between the government and those being governed. Those being governed consent to give up a certain bit of their eedoms to their ruler in exchange for protection of the rest of their rights. People had the right to defend their “life, liberty, health, or possessions.”

Present DayJJohn Locke, while you may not have heard of him before, is ingrained in our society in the United States. With the idea om his tabula rasa, that all humans are created equal, and should be ee to pursue their desires. As talked about with the social contract, the right to defend “life, liberty, health, or possessions” influenced the creation of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

ThisThis phrase is found in the Declaration of Independence, which is known as the document that announced the original thirteen colonies as independent om Great Britain and their country: The

United States of America. Locke’s influence was a basis for the foundation of our nation.

John Locke Works Cited"John Locke (1632-1704)." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.Locke, John, and Peter Lasle. Two Treatises of Government. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988. Print.Smith, Craig R. Rhetoric and Human Consciousness: A History. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2013. Print.