Orange is orange and apple is
red. Elephant is big and heavy whereas sun is bright and hot. We know this
since we perceive color, size, temperature and weight. In other words we
experience these qualities. These are simple experiences and they bring great
joy to us when we stop and contemplate them. The gift of life is that we do not
stop at these primary experiences and are capable of having complex and sublime
experiences too. When we feel awe or fear, joy or anxiety, love or loss, passion
or revulsion, we experience a number of primary ideas together. John Locke, the
philosopher from England told us that all that we learn comes from experiences
that we gather and when we are born; our mind is like a blank slate or “tabula
rasa”.
‘All our knowledge comes from experiences’
is the theme of the masterpiece that John Locke wrote in 1690, just two years
after the glorious revolution in England. The masterpiece “An Essay Concerning
Human Understanding” changed the way we looked at our mind and suddenly we
understood. The ‘Essay…” gave the
doctrine that there are primary and secondary qualities. The primary qualities
are those that cannot be separated from the body like solidity, figure, motion
etc and secondary qualities are all the rest like color, sound, smell etc. The
primary qualities are in the body and secondary qualities are in us. Such
simplicity of thought was rare and powerful in philosophy and therefore
influenced even physics. It became source of many important theories in the
field of heat, light and electricity. This essay also inspired the ideas
embedded in American Constitution. British Constitution is predominantly based
on this essay and on doctrines espoused by him. The French adopted the ideas of
this essay in their constitution in 1871.
John Locke is the apostle of the
revolution of 1688. Bertrand Russell, the famous mathematician and philosopher calls
it the most moderate and the most successful of all revolutions after which
hitherto no need for any revolution has been felt in England. Locke is one of
the most fortunate philosophers. He completed this essay just when the
government of his country fell into the hands of people who believed in his
ideas. His views therefore were held and pursued by most vigorous and influential
politicians of his times.
John Locke was born in 1632 and his
father’s name was also John Locke. Though he lived to be 72, all his
influential works were produced in a short time span of about 6 years from 1687
to 1693. He studied at Oxford University but he did not like the rigmarole of
the syllabus and university education. He enjoyed studying works of Rene
Descartes. He was deeply interested in medical studies and obtained a bachelor’s
degree in medicine as well under the guidance of Thomas Sydenham. He worked
closely with scientists like Robert Boyle who described the relationship
between pressure and volume of a gas. He also discussed matters with figures
like Sir Issac Newton and John Dryden. The events that he saw in his life time
were English Restoration, The Great Plague of London and The Great Fire of
London. Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Monarchy was in their infancy
during his life time. He died on 28th October 1704 and is buried in
the house where he lived since 1691. He never married and had no children.
No comments:
Post a Comment