Editing John Locke (section)

== Ideas ==

=== Economics ===
====On price theory====
Locke's general theory of value and price is a [[supply and demand|supply-and-demand]] theory, set out in a letter to a member of parliament in 1691, titled ''Some Considerations on the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising of the Value of Money''.<ref>{{Citation |first=John |last=Locke |year=1691 |url=http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/locke/contents.htm |title=Some Considerations on the consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising of the Value of Money |publisher=Marxists |access-date=4 July 2007 |archive-date=24 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324135856/https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/locke/contents.htm |url-status=live }}.</ref> In it, he refers to supply as ''quantity'' and demand as [[Economic rent|''rent'']]: "The price of any commodity rises or falls by the proportion of the number of buyers and sellers ... that which regulates the price ... [of goods] is nothing else but their quantity in proportion to their rent." The [[quantity theory of money]] forms a special case of this general theory. His idea is based on "money answers all things" ([[Ecclesiastes]]) or "rent of money is always sufficient, or more than enough" and "varies very little". Locke concludes that, as far as money is concerned, the [[demand for money|demand for it]] is exclusively regulated by its quantity, regardless of whether the demand is unlimited or constant. He also investigates the determinants of demand and supply. For [[Supply (economics)|supply]], he explains the value of goods as based on their [[scarcity]] and ability to be [[Exchange value|exchanged]] and [[Consumption (economics)|consumed]]. He explains [[demand]] for goods as based on their ability to yield a flow of income. Locke develops an early theory of [[Capital (economics)|capitalisation]], such as of land, which has value because "by its constant production of saleable [[Commodity|commodities]] it brings in a certain yearly income". He considers the demand for money as almost the same as demand for goods or land: it depends on whether money is wanted as [[medium of exchange]]. As a medium of exchange, he states that "money is capable by exchange to procure us the necessaries or conveniences of life", and for [[loanable funds]] "it comes to be of the same nature with land by yielding a certain yearly income ... or interest".

====Monetary thoughts====
Locke distinguishes two functions of money: as a ''counter'' to [[Valuation (finance)|measure value]], and as a ''pledge'' to lay claim to [[good (economics)|goods]]. He believes that silver and gold, as opposed to [[Banknote|paper money]], are the appropriate currency for international transactions. Silver and gold, he says, are treated to have equal value by all of humanity and can thus be treated as a pledge by anyone, while the value of paper money is only valid under the government which issues it.

Locke argues that a country should seek a favourable [[balance of trade]], lest it fall behind other countries and suffer a loss in its trade. Since the world [[Money supply|money stock]] grows constantly, a country must constantly seek to enlarge its own stock. Locke develops his theory of foreign exchanges, by which in addition to commodity movements, there are also movements in country stock of money, and movements of capital determine [[exchange rate]]s. He considers the latter less significant and less [[Volatility (finance)|volatile]] than commodity movements. As for a country's money stock, if it is large relative to that of other countries, he says it will cause the country's exchange to rise above par, as an export balance would do.

Locke prepares estimates of the [[cash]] requirements for different economic groups ([[Land tenure|landholders]], labourers, and brokers). In each group he posits that the cash requirements are closely related to the length of the pay period. He argues the brokers—the [[Intermediary|middlemen]]—whose activities enlarge the monetary circuit and whose profits eat into the earnings of labourers and landholders, have a negative influence on both personal and the public economy to which they supposedly contribute.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money (Diplomatic) |url=https://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/diplomatic/MINT01863 |access-date=2 March 2024 |website=www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk |archive-date=2 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302220309/https://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/diplomatic/MINT01863 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Theory of value and property====
Locke uses the concept of ''[[Property (philosophy)|property]]'' in both broad and narrow terms: broadly, it covers a wide range of human interests and aspirations; more particularly, it refers to [[Tangible property|material goods]]. He argues that property is a [[Natural rights and legal rights|natural right]] that is derived from [[manual labour|labour]]. In Chapter V of his ''[[Two Treatises of Government|Second Treatise]]'', Locke argues that the individual ownership of goods and property is justified by the labour exerted to produce such goods{{mdash}}"at least where there is enough [land], and as good, left in common for others" (para. 27){{mdash}}or to use property to produce goods beneficial to human society.<ref name="labortheory">{{cite journal|last=Vaughn|first=Karen|year=1978|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019073702/http://mises.org/journals/jls/2_4/2_4_3.pdf|title=John Locke and the Labor Theory of Value|journal=[[Journal of Libertarian Studies]]|volume=2|issue=4|pages=311–326|url=https://mises.org/journals/jls/2_4/2_4_3.pdf|archive-date=19 October 2011}}</ref>

Locke states in his ''Second Treatise'' that nature on its own provides little of value to society, implying that the labour expended in the creation of goods gives them their value. From this premise, understood as a [[Labor theory of value|''labour theory of value'']],<ref name="labortheory" /> Locke developed a [[Labor theory of property|''labour theory of property'']], whereby ownership of [[property]] is created by the application of labour. In addition, he believed that property precedes government and government cannot "dispose of the estates of the subjects arbitrarily". [[Karl Marx]] later critiqued Locke's theory of property in his own social theory.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Engle |first=Eric |date=15 September 2008 |title=Karl Marx's Intellectual Roots in John Locke |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1268545 |journal=Postmodern Openings |language=en |location=Rochester, NY |volume=7 |issue=7 |pages=35–36 |ssrn=1268545 |via=SSRN}}</ref>

=== The human mind ===
====The self====
Locke defines ''the self'' as "that conscious thinking thing, (whatever substance, made up of whether spiritual, or material, simple, or compounded, it matters not) which is sensible, or conscious of pleasure and pain, capable of happiness or misery, and so is concerned for itself, as far as that consciousness extends".{{Sfn | Locke | 1997b | p = 307}} He does not wholly ignore "substance", writing that "the body too goes to the making the man".{{Sfn | Locke | 1997b | p = 306}} In his ''Essay'', Locke explains the gradual unfolding of this conscious mind. Arguing against both the [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustinian]] view of man as [[original sin|originally sinful]] and the [[René Descartes|Cartesian]] position, which holds that man innately knows basic logical propositions, Locke posits an 'empty mind', a ''[[tabula rasa]]'', which is shaped by experience, [[Wikt:sensation|sensations]] and [[human self-reflection|reflections]] being the two sources of all our [[idea]]s.<ref>{{Citation |title=The American International Encyclopedia |publisher=JJ Little Co |place=New York |year=1954 |volume=9}}.</ref> He states in ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'':

<blockquote>This source of ideas every man has wholly within himself; and though it be not sense, as having nothing to do with external objects, yet it is very like it, and might properly enough be called 'internal sense.'<ref>{{Cite book|last=Angus|first=Joseph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDYCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA324|title=The Handbook of Specimens of English Literature|publisher=[[William Clowes Ltd.|William Clowes and Sons]]|year=1880|location=London|page=324|language=en|author-link=Joseph Angus}}</ref></blockquote>

Locke's ''[[Some Thoughts Concerning Education]]'' is an outline on how to educate this mind. Drawing on thoughts expressed in letters written to [[Mary Clarke (letter writer)|Mary Clarke]] and her husband about their son,<ref name="MaryC">{{Cite ODNB|id=66720|title=Clarke [née Jepp], Mary}}</ref> he expresses the belief that education makes the man{{mdash}}or, more fundamentally, that the mind is an "empty cabinet":{{Sfn|Locke|1996|p=10}}

<blockquote>I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education.</blockquote>

Locke also wrote that "the little and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences".{{Sfn | Locke | 1996 | p = 10}} He argues that the "[[Association of Ideas|associations of ideas]]" that one makes when young are more important than those made later because they are the foundation of the ''self''; they are, put differently, what first mark the ''tabula rasa''. In his ''Essay'', in which both these concepts are introduced, Locke warns, for example, against letting "a foolish maid" convince a child that "goblins and sprites" are associated with the night, for "darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it those frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other".{{Sfn | Locke | 1997b | p = 357}}

This theory came to be called ''[[associationism]]'', going on to strongly influence 18th-century thought, particularly [[education theory|educational theory]], as nearly every educational writer warned parents not to allow their children to develop negative associations. It also led to the development of [[psychology]] and other new disciplines with [[David Hartley (philosopher)|David Hartley]]'s attempt to discover a biological mechanism for associationism in his ''[[Observations on Man]]'' (1749).

====Dream argument====
Locke was critical of Descartes's version of the [[dream argument]], with Locke making the counter-argument that people cannot have physical pain in dreams as they do in waking life.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/dreaming/#SH1b |title=Dreaming, Philosophy of – Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |work=utm.edu |access-date=23 December 2016 |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131103348/https://iep.utm.edu/dreaming/#SH1b |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Religion ===
====Religious beliefs====
Some scholars have seen Locke's political convictions as being based from his religious beliefs.<ref>{{Citation |first=Greg |last=Forster |title=John Locke's politics of moral consensus |year=2005}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation |first=Kim Ian |last=Parker |title=The Biblical Politics of John Locke |year=2004 |publisher=Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion|title-link=The Biblical Politics of John Locke }}.</ref><ref>{{Citation |first=John |last=Locke |title=Writings on religion |editor-first=Victor |editor-last=Nuovo |place=Oxford |year=2002}}.</ref> Locke's religious trajectory began in [[Calvinist]] [[trinitarianism]], but by the time of the ''Reflections'' (1695) Locke was advocating not just [[Socinianism|Socinian views]] on tolerance but also Socinian [[Christology]].<ref name="Marshall 1994 426">{{Citation |first=John |last=Marshall |title=John Locke: resistance, religion and responsibility |place=Cambridge |year=1994 |page=426}}.</ref> However Wainwright (1987) notes that in the posthumously published ''Paraphrase'' (1707) Locke's interpretation of one verse, [[Ephesians 1]]:10, is markedly different from that of Socinians like [[John Biddle (Unitarian)|Biddle]], and may indicate that near the end of his life Locke returned nearer to an [[Arianism|Arian]] position, thereby accepting Christ's pre-existence.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Clarendon Edition of the Works of John Locke: A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1987|isbn=978-0-19-824806-4|editor-last=Wainwright|editor-first=Arthur W.|location=Oxford|page=806}}</ref><ref name="Marshall 1994 426" />
Locke was at times not sure about the subject of [[original sin]], so he was accused of Socinianism, Arianism, or [[Deism]].{{Sfn | Waldron | 2002 | pp = 27, 223}} Locke argued that the idea that "all ''[[Adam]]'''s Posterity [are] doomed to Eternal Infinite Punishment, for the Transgression of ''Adam''" was "little consistent with the Justice or Goodness of the Great and Infinite God", leading [[Eric Nelson (historian)|Eric Nelson]] to associate him with [[Pelagianism|Pelagian]] ideas.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=7–8}} However, he did not deny the reality of evil. Man was capable of waging unjust wars and committing crimes. Criminals had to be punished, even with the death penalty.{{Sfn | Waldron | 2002 | p = 145}}

With regard to the Bible, Locke was very conservative. He retained the doctrine of the [[verbal inspiration]] of the Scriptures.{{Sfn | Heussi | 1956}} The miracles were proof of the divine nature of the biblical message. Locke was convinced that the entire content of the Bible was in agreement with human reason (''The Reasonableness of Christianity'', 1695).<ref>{{Citation |first=D |last=Henrich |contribution=Locke, John |title=Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart |year=1960 |language=de}}, 3. Auflage, Band IV, Spalte 426</ref>{{Sfn | Heussi | 1956}} Although Locke was an advocate of tolerance, he urged the authorities not to tolerate [[atheism]], because he thought the denial of God's existence would undermine the social order and lead to chaos.{{Sfn | Waldron | 2002 | pp = 217 ff}} That excluded all atheistic varieties of philosophy and all attempts to deduce ethics and natural law from purely secular premises.{{Sfn | Waldron | 2002 | p = 13}} In Locke's opinion the [[cosmological argument]] was valid and proved God's existence. His political thought was based on Protestant Christian views.{{Sfn | Waldron | 2002 | p = 13}}<ref>{{Citation |quote=[The ''Two Treatises of Government'' are] saturated with Christian assumptions. |first=John |last=Dunn |year=1969 |title=The Political Thought of John Locke: A Historical Account of the Argument of the 'Two Treatises of Government' |publisher=Cambridge University Press |place=Cambridge, UK |page=99}}.</ref> Additionally, Locke advocated a sense of piety out of gratitude to God for giving reason to men.<ref>[[Nicholas Wolterstorff|Wolterstorff, Nicholas]]. 1994. "[https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&context=faithandphilosophy John Locke's Epistemological Piety: Reason Is The Candle Of The Lord] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522093235/https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&context=faithandphilosophy |date=22 May 2020 }}." ''[[Faith and Philosophy]]'' 11(4):572–591.</ref>

==== Philosophy from religion ====
Locke's concept of man started with the belief in creation.{{Sfn | Waldron | 2002 | p= 142}} Like philosophers [[Hugo Grotius]] and [[Samuel Pufendorf]], Locke equated [[natural law]] with the biblical [[revelation]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Elze|first=M|title=Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart|year=1958|contribution=Grotius, Hugo|language=de}} 2(3):1885–1886.</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Hohlwein|first=H|title=Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart|year=1961|contribution=Pufendorf, Samuel Freiherr von|language=de}}, 5(3):721.</ref>{{Sfn | Waldron | 2002 | p = 12}} Locke derived the fundamental concepts of his political theory from biblical texts, in particular from [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 1 and 2 ([[Genesis creation narrative|creation]]), the [[Ten Commandments|Decalogue]], the [[Golden Rule]], the teachings of Jesus, and the letters of [[Paul the Apostle]].{{Sfn | Waldron | 2002 | pp = 22–43, 45–46, 101, 153–158, 195, 197}} [[Ten Commandments|The Decalogue]] puts a person's life, reputation and property under God's protection. Locke's philosophy on freedom is also derived from the Bible. Locke derived from the Bible basic human equality (including [[equality of the sexes]]), the starting point of the theological doctrine of [[Imago Dei]].{{Sfn|Waldron|2002|pp=21–43}} To Locke, one of the consequences of the principle of equality was that all humans were created equally free and therefore governments needed the consent of the governed.{{Sfn|Waldron|2002|p=136}} Locke compared the English monarchy's rule over the British people to Adam's rule over Eve in Genesis, which was appointed by God.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Two Treatises of Government|last=Locke|first=John|publisher=Hafner Publishing Company|year=1947|location=New York|pages=17–18, 35, 38}}</ref> Following Locke's philosophy, the American [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] founded human rights partially on the biblical belief in creation. Locke's doctrine that governments need the consent of the governed is also central to the Declaration of Independence.<ref>[[Carl L. Becker|Becker, Carl]]. ''The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas''. 1970 [1922]. [https://archive.org/details/declarationinde00beckgoog Google Book Search]. Revised ed., New York: Vintage Books. {{ISBN|978-0-394-70060-1}}.</ref>