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Brief Lives

John Locke (1632-1704)

John P. Irish goes into full Locke-down with a titan of philosophy.

Before 1689, when he was almost sixty, there was very little in John Locke’s life that would have indicated that he was to become one of the most important philosophical minds of the Western world. Before that, he was little more than a footnote in English history, with no major publications, and only a few minor writings which were all published anonymously. But after 1689, with the publication of his two magnum opuses, the Two Treatises of Government and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, the world would take notice of this powerful intellect.

John Locke by Herman Verelst

Birth, Education and Early Writings

John Locke was born in Wrington, Somerset, a small town just south of Bristol, England, on August 28, 1632, to parents of moderate means.

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