John Locke. Anglican Empiricism (part II.)
Key words
Anglican Empiricism, Tabula rasa, Ideas, Sensation, Qualities, Reflection, Reason, Knowledge
Key terms in British Empiricism
Ideas: objects of human understanding.
Sensation: experience that causes ideas of qualities.
Qualities: the powers in things to create sensation.
Reflection: experience of our own thought processes.
Reason: that which processes the ideas of experience.
Knowledge: the perception of the consonance and dissonance between our ideas
Historical background
John Locke (1632-1704) was one of the greatest philosophers in Europe at the end of the seventeenth century. With the defeat and death of Charles I, there began a great experiment in governmental institutions including the abolishment of the monarchy, the House of Lords and the Anglican church, and the establishment of Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate in the 1650s.
The collapse of the Protectorate after the death of Cromwell was followed by the Restoration of Charles II — the return of the monarchy, the House of Lords and the Anglican Church. This period lasted from 1660 to 1688. It was marked by continued conflicts between King and Parliament and debates over religious toleration for Protestant dissenters and Catholics.
This period ends with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in which James II was driven from England and replaced by William of Orange and his wife Mary. The final period during which Locke lived involved the consolidation of power by William and Mary, and the beginning of William’s efforts to oppose the domination of Europe by the France of Louis XIV, which later culminated in the military victories of John Churchill — the Duke of Marlborough.
Key words
Anglican Empiricism, Tabula rasa, Ideas, Sensation, Qualities, Reflection, Reason, Knowledge