Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
John Locke

John Locke

John Locke (August 29, 1632–October 28, 1704) was a 17th-century English philosopher. He developed the Lockean social contract, which included the ideas of a state of nature, "government with the consent of the governed," and the natural rights of life, liberty, and estate. Locke was also the first to fully develop the idea of tabula rasa. Locke's ideas had an enormous influence on the development of political philosophy, and he is often seen as one of the most influential contributors to liberal theory as well as Enlightenment thinkers. Locke's writings formed the basis for many ideas of American revolutionaries as reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Locke has often been classified, along with David Hume and George Berkeley, as a British Empiricist. He is perhaps most often contrasted with the contemporary Thomas Hobbes.

Biography

Locke's father, also named John Locke, was a country lawyer who had served as a captain of cavalry for the Parliamentarian forces during the early part of the English Civil War, and his mother Agnes Keene was a tanner's daughter that was reputed to be very beautiful. Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in a small thatched cottage by the church in Wrington, Somerset, 11.42 miles (18.38 km) from Bristol. He was baptized the same day. Soon after Locke's birth, the family moved to the market town of Pensford, about seven miles south of Bristol, where Locke grew up in a rural Tudor house in Belluton. In 1647, Locke was sent to the prestigious Westminster School in London under the sponsorship of Alexander Popham, a member of Parliament and Locke's father's former commander. After completing his studies there, he was admitted to the college of Christ Church at Oxford University. The dean of the college at the time was John Owen, vice-chancellor of the university. Although a capable student, Locke was irritated by the undergraduate curriculum of the time. He found reading modern philosophers, such as René Descartes, more interesting than the classical material taught at the university. Locke was awarded a bachelor's degree in 1656 and a master's degree in 1658. Although he never became a medical doctor, Locke obtained a bachelor of medicine in 1674. He studied medicine extensively during his time at Oxford, working with such noted virtuosi as Robert Boyle, Thomas Willis, Robert Hooke and Richard Lower. In 1666, he met Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, who had come to Oxford seeking treatment for a liver infection. Cooper was impressed with Locke and persuaded him to become part of his retinue. Locke had been looking for a career and in 1667 moved into Shaftesbury's home at Exeter House in London, ostensibly as the household physician. In London Locke resumed his medical studies, under the tutelage of Thomas Sydenham. Sydenham had a major impact on Locke's natural philosophical thinking - an impact that resonated deeply in Locke's writing of the Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Locke's medical knowledge was soon put to the test, since Shaftesbury's liver infection became life-threatening. Locke coordinated the advice of several physicians and was probably instrumental in persuading Shaftesbury to undergo an operation (then life-threatening itself) to remove the cyst. Shaftesbury survived and prospered, crediting Locke with saving his life. It was in Shaftesbury's household, during 1671, that the meeting took place, described in the Epistle to the reader of the Essay, which was the genesis of what would later become Essay. Two extant Drafts still survive from this period. Shaftesbury, as a founder of the Whig movement, exerted great influence on Locke's political ideas. Locke became involved in politics when Shaftesbury became Lord Chancellor in 1672. Following Shaftesbury's fall from favour in 1675, Locke spent some time travelling across France. He returned to England in 1679 when Shaftesbury's political fortunes took a brief positive turn. It was around this time, most likely at Shaftesbury's prompting, that Locke composed the bulk of the Two Treatises of Government. However, Locke fled to the Netherlands in 1683, under strong suspicion of involvement in the Rye House Plot (though there is little evidence to suggest that he was directly involved in the scheme). In the Netherlands Locke had time to return to his writing, spending a great deal of time re-working the Essay and composing the Letter on Toleration. Locke did not return home until after the Glorious Revolution. The bulk of Locke's publishing took place after his arrival back in England - the Essay, the Two Treatises and the Letter on Toleration all appearing in quick succession upon his return from exile. He died in 1704 after a prolonged decline in health, and is buried in the churchyard of the village of High Laver, east of Harlow in Essex, where he had lived in the household of Sir Francis Masham since 1691. Locke never married or had any children. Events that happened during Locke's lifetime include the English Restoration, the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. He did not quite see the Act of Union of 1707, though the thrones of England and Scotland were held by the same monarch throughout his lifetime. Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy were in their infancy during Locke's time.

Writings

The influences of Locke's Puritan upbringing and his Whig political affiliation expressed themselves in his published writings. Although widely regarded as an important influence on modern ideas of political liberty, Locke did not always express ideas that match those of the present day. Locke's first major published work was A Letter Concerning Toleration. Religious toleration within Great Britain was a subject of great interest for Locke; he wrote several subsequent essays in its defence prior to his death. Locke's upbringing among non-conformist Protestants made him sensitive to differing theological viewpoints. He recoiled, however, from what he saw as the divisive character of some non-conformist sects. Locke became a strong supporter of the Church of England. By adopting a latitudinarian theological stance, Locke believed, the national church could serve as an instrument for social harmony. Locke is best known for two works, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises of Government. The Essay was commenced in 1671, and as Locke himself described, was written in fits and starts over the next 18 years. It was finally published in December 1689. Though the exact dates of the composition of the Two Treatises are a matter of dispute, it is clear that the bulk of the writing took place in the period from 1679-1682. It was therefore much more of a commentary on the exclusion crisis than it was a justification of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, though no one doubts that Locke substantively revised it to serve this latter purpose.

A Letter Concerning Toleration

Locke originally published the Letter anonymously, in Latin, in Amsterdam, though it was almost immediately translated into English. He distinguishes a church from a civil government by the ends each pursues and by the means most appropriate to those ends. Government exists for the sake of peace, and must use force to achieve it; a church is a voluntary community for the salvation of souls, and must therefore use persuasion. Individuals cannot alienate control over their own souls, and so cannot make the government responsible for their salvation; force cannot bring about the changes necessary for salvation; and even if it could, there is no certainty that the religion doing the oppressing is the true religion. As a result, even were the government inclined to support a particular church, it could not do so without disturbing civil peace. Government may, however, regulate religion for political reasons, e.g., to forbid the public slaughter of all animals for health reasons, even if this prevents certain religious practices. Religious sects that refuse to accept Locke's doctrine of toleration of necessity seek a change in the government, and so may be suppressed as revolutionary. As there is no reason to keep promises without fear of God, and as civil peace requires that men keep their promises, the government may take an interest in promoting some form of religion.

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

In the Essay, Locke critiques the philosophy of innate ideas and builds a theory of the mind and knowledge that gives priority to the senses and experience. His adherence to this doctrine is what marks him out as an empiricist rather than a rationalist such as his critic Leibniz, who wrote the New Essays on Human Understanding. Book II of the Essay sets out Locke's theory of ideas, including his distinction between passively acquired simple ideas, such as "red," "sweet," "round," etc., and actively built complex ideas, such as numbers, causes and effects, abstract ideas, ideas of substances, identity, and diversity. Locke also distinguishes between the truly existing primary qualities of bodies, like shape, motion and the arrangement of minute particles, and the secondary qualities that are "powers to produce various sensations in us" (Essay, II.viii.10) such as "red" and "sweet." These secondary qualities, Locke claims, are dependent on the primary qualities. In Chapter xxvii of Book II Locke discusses personal identity, and the idea of a person. What he says here has shaped our thoughts and provoked debate ever since. Book III is concerned with language, and Book IV with knowledge, including intuition, mathematics, moral philosophy, natural philosophy ("science"), faith and opinion.

Two Treatises of Government

The First Treatise attacks Sir Robert Filmer, who was the author of the first criticism of Thomas Hobbes and of a peculiar theory of the Divine Right of Kings. The Second Treatise, or True End of Civil Government, purports to justify the Glorious Revolution by 1) developing a theory of legitimate government and 2) arguing that the people may remove a regime that violates that theory; Locke leaves it to his readers to understand that James II of England had done so. He is therefore best known as the popularizer of natural rights and the right of revolution. Locke posits a state of nature as the proper starting point for examining politics. Individuals have rights, and their duties are defined in terms of protecting their own rights and respecting those of others. Through the law of nature, which Locke describes as "reason," we are able to understand why we must respect the natural rights of others (including the right to property for which one has laboured). In practice, the law of nature is ignored and so government is necessary; this can be created only by the consent of the governed, which can be had only to a commonwealth of laws. As law is sometimes incapable of providing for the safety and increase of society, man may acquiesce in being done certain extralegal benefits (prerogative). All government is therefore a fiduciary trust: when that trust is betrayed, government dissolves. A government betrays its trust when the laws are violated or when the trust of prerogative is abused. Once government is dissolved, the people are free to erect a new one and to oppose those who claim authority under the old one, that is, to revolt.

Influence

Locke exercised a profound influence on subsequent philosophy and politics. His remarks concerning liberty and the social contract later influenced the written works of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other Founding Fathers of the United States. In particular, the Declaration of Independence drew upon many 18th century political ideas, derived from the works of Locke. Appraisals of Locke have therefore been tied to appraisals of the United States and of liberalism in general. Detractors note that he was a major investor in the English slave-trade, as well as his participation in drafting the Fundamental Constitution of the Carolinas while Shaftesbury's secretary, which established a feudal aristocracy and gave a master absolute power over his slaves. Some see his statements on unenclosed property as having justified the displacement of the Native Americans. Because of his opposition to aristocracy and slavery in his major writings, he is accused of hypocrisy, or of caring only for the liberty of English capitalists. Most scholars reject these criticisms, however, questioning the extent of his impact upon the Fundamental Constititution and his detractors' interpretations of his work in general.

List of major works


- (1689) A Letter Concerning Toleration
  - (1690) A Second Letter Concerning Toleration
  - (1692) A Third Letter for Toleration
- (1689) Two Treatises of Government
- (1689) An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
- (1693) Some Thoughts Concerning Education
- (1695) The Reasonableness of Christianity, as Delivered in the Scriptures
  - (1695) A Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity

Major unpublished or posthumous manuscripts


- (1660) First Tract on Government (or the English Tract)
- (c.1662) Second Tract on Government (or the Latin Tract)
- (1664) Essays on the Law of Nature
- (1667) Essay Concerning Toleration
- (1706) Of the Conduct of the Understanding
- (1707) A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul

Locke's epitaph

(translated from the Latin) "Stop Traveller! Near this place lieth John Locke. If you ask what kind of a man he was, he answers that he lived content with his own small fortune. Bred a scholar, he made his learning subservient only to the cause of truth. This thou will learn from his writings, which will show thee everything else concerning him, with greater truth, than the suspected praises of an epitaph. His virtues, indeed, if he had any, were too little for him to propose as matter of praise to himself, or as an example to thee. Let his vices be buried together. As to an example of manners, if you seek that, you have it in the Gospels; of vices, to wish you have one nowhere; if mortality, certainly, (and may it profit thee), thou hast one here and everywhere."

Secondary literature


- Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknapp/Harvard University Press, 1967. Enlarged Edition, 1992. Discusses influence of Locke and other thinkers upon American political thought.
- John Dunn, Locke Oxford University Press, 1984. A succinct introduction.
- John Dunn, The Political Thought of John Locke: An Historical Account of the Argument of the Two Treatises of Government. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969. Introduced the interpretation which emphasizes the theological element in Locke's political thought.
- Roland Hall (ed.) `Locke Studies' is an annual journal of research on John Locke (obtainable from the editor for £12; the current volume is 300 pages).
- John W. Yolton (ed.), John Locke: Problems and Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969. Reassesses Locke's political philosophy from different points of view.

Quotes

If man in the state of nature be so free, as has been said; if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to no body, why will he part with his freedom?"
-Two Treatises of Government

See also


- Liberalism
- Libertarianism
- Contributions to liberal theory

References


- Robinson, Dave & Groves, Judy (2003). Introducing Political Philosophy. Icon Books. ISBN 1-84046-450-X.

External links


- [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/search?amode=start&author=Locke,%20John Free, full-text works by John Locke]
-
- [http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dmckiern/locke.htm Works by Locke on the Web]
- [http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/locke/ John Locke Online Bibliography]
- [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry]
- [http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/locke/index.html John Locke Bibliography]
- [http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/locke/mss/index.html John Locke Manuscripts]
- [http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/ Readable versions of the Essay Concerning Human Understanding and the Second Treatise on Government] Locke, John Locke, John Locke, John Locke, John Locke, John Locke, John Locke, John Locke, John Locke, John Locke, John ko:존 로크 ja:ジョン・ロック th:จอห์น ล็อก

August 29

August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. It is also the 1st day of Thoth - which is the 1st day of the Egyptian Horoscope. Thoth is the Ibis-headed god of knowledge.

Events


- 708 - Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708).
- 1189- Ban Kulin wrote "The Charter of Kulin", which become a symbolic "birth certificate" of Bosnian statehood
- 1261 - Urban IV becomes Pope, the last man to do so without being a Cardinal first.
- 1475 - The Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England.
- 1484 - Pope Innocent VIII, a staunch supporter of the Spanish Inquisition, is elected Pope.
- 1521 - The Ottoman Turks capture Nándorfehérvár, now known as Belgrade.
- 1526 - Battle of Mohács: The Ottoman Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent defeat and kill the last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia.
- 1533 - Inca emperor Atahualpa is executed in Cajamarca by the garrote.
- 1541 - The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom.
- 1756 - Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years' War.
- 1786 - Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, begins in response to high debt and tax burdens.
- 1831 - Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction.
- 1842 - The Tokugawa shogunate orders the local daimyō to begin providing foreign ships with fresh water and supplies when requested. (Traditional Japanese date: July 24, 1842).
- 1862 - Battle of Aspromonte: Italian royal forces defeat rebels.
- 1871 - Emperor Meiji orders the Abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures as local centers of administration. (Traditional Japanese date: July 14, 1871).
- 1885 - Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle.
- 1895 - The formation of the Northern Rugby Union at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, England.
- 1896 - Chop suey is invented in New York City.
- 1898 - The Goodyear tire company is founded.
- 1907 - The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers.
- 1910 - Japan changes Korea's name to Chōsen and appoints a governor-general to rule its new colony.
- 1911 - Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with whites, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.
- 1922 - Turkish forces set fire to Smyrna, in Asia Minor.
- 1930 - The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda are voluntarily evacuated to Scotland.
- 1943 - German-occupied Denmark scuttles most of its navy; Germany dissolves Danish government.
- 1944 - Slovak National Uprising takes place as 60,000 Slovak troops turn against the Nazi rulers.
- 1949 - Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
- 1952 - Premiere of John Cage's 4'33" in Woodstock, New York.
- 1958 - United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
- 1966 - Last Beatles concert, in San Francisco, California.
- 1966 - Execution of Sayyid Qutb, a leading theoretician of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
- 1982 - The synthetic chemical element Meitnerium, atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany.
- 1991 - Supreme Soviet suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party.
- 1995 - NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.
- 1996 - A Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.
- 1997 - At least 98 villagers are killed by the GIA in the Rais massacre, Algeria.
- 1997 - Serial killer Ángel Maturino Reséndiz bludgeons to death Christopher Maier of Lexington, Kentucky, USA, the first of nine victims.
- 2003 - Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf.
- 2005 - Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing more than 1350 and costing over 100 billion dollars in damage.

Births


- 1619 - Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French minister of finance (d. 1683)
- 1628 - John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English royalist statesman (d. 1701)
- 1632 - John Locke, English philosopher (d. 1704)
- 1725 - Charles Townshend, English politician (d. 1767)
- 1756 - Heinrich Graf von Bellegarde, Austrian field marshal and statesman (d. 1845)
- 1780 - Jean Ingres, French painter (d. 1867)
- 1805 - Frederick Maurice, English theologian (d. 1872)
- 1809 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician and writer (d. 1894)
- 1810 - Juan Bautista Alberdi, founding father of the Argentine Republic (d. 1884)
- 1843 - David B. Hill, Governor of New York (d. 1910)
- 1844 - Edward Carpenter, English Socialist poet (d. 1929
- 1862 - Andrew Fisher, fifth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1928)
- 1862 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
- 1871 - Albert Lebrun, French politician (d. 1950)
- 1876 - Charles F. Kettering, American inventor (d. 1958)
- 1898 - Preston Sturges, American screenwriter (d. 1959)
- 1904 - Werner Forssmann, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1979)
- 1905 - Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player (d. 1979)
- 1915 - Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (d. 1982)
- 1916 - George Montgomery, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1917 - Isabel Sanford, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1920 - Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist and composer (d. 1955)
- 1923 - The Lord Attenborough, English film director
- 1924 - Consuelo Velázquez, Mexican songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Dinah Washington, American singer (d. 1963)
- 1933 - Arnold Koller, Swiss Federal Councilor
- 1936 - John McCain, American politician
- 1937 - James Florio, Governor of New Jersey
- 1938 - Elliott Gould, American actor
- 1938 - Robert Rubin, United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1939 - William Friedkin, American film director
- 1939 - Joel Schumacher, American film director
- 1940 - Gary Gabelich, race car driver and land world speed record holder
- 1941 - Robin Leach, English television host
- 1946 - Bob Beamon, American jumper
- 1958 - Michael Jackson, American singer and songwriter
- 1959 - Ernesto Rodrigues, Portuguese composer
- 1959 - Timothy Perry Shriver, American chairman of the Special Olympics
- 1961 - Carsten Fischer, German field hockey player
- 1962 - Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
- 1963 - Elizabeth Fraser, English singer (Cocteau Twins)
- 1969 - Me'Shell NdegéOcello, American singer
- 1969 - Joe Swail, Irish snooker player
- 1970 - Jacco Eltingh, Dutch tennis player
- 1971 - Carla Gugino, American actress
- 1978 - Larry Ganzman, Ukrainian emigrant
- 1980 - David Desrosiers, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
- 1981 - Lanny Barbie, Canadian porn star and Penthouse magazine's Pet of the Month for June, 2003

Deaths


- 886 - Basil I, Byzantine Emperor (b. 811)
- 1093 - Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1057)
- 1395 - Duke Albert III of Austria (b. 1349)
- 1435 - Isabeau de Bavière, queen of Charles VI of France (b. 1371)
- 1442 - John VI, Duke of Brittany (b. 1389)
- 1526 - King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (killed in battle) (b. 1506)
- 1533 - Atahualpa, last Inca ruler of Peru
- 1657 - John Lilburne, English dissenter
- 1712 - Gregory King, English statistician (b. 1648)
- 1769 - Edmund Hoyle, English author and teacher (b. 1672)
- 1780 - Jacques-Germain Soufflot, French architect (b. 1713)
- 1799 - Pope Pius VI (b. 1717)
- 1877 - Brigham Young, American religious leader and western settler (b. 1801)
- 1904 - Murad V, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1840)
- 1930 - William Archibald Spooner, English writer (b. 1844)
- 1935 - Queen Astrid of Belgium (b. 1905)
- 1947 - Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1917)
- 1966 - Sayyid Qutb, Egyptian theoretician (b. 1906)
- 1968 - Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier and planner (b. 1881)
- 1972 - Lale Andersen, German singer (b. 1905)
- 1975 - Eamon de Valera, first Taoiseach and third President of Ireland (b. 1882)
- 1981 - Lowell Thomas, American writer and broadcaster (b. 1892)
- 1982 - Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (b. 1915)
- 1987 - Lee Marvin, American actor (b. 1924) 1988 Alastair Leslie-Dakers
- 1989 - Peter Scott, English explorer, naturalist, and painter (b. 1909)
- 2003 - Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, Iraqi political leader (b.1939)
- 2004 - Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances


- Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholic Church commemorate the beheading of John the Baptist with a feast day
- Slovakia - Slovak National Uprising Day (1944, against the Nazi's)

Fictional


- The day the running stopped for fugitive Richard Kimble - 29 August 1967.
- Judgment Day in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day - 29 August 1997.

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/29 BBC: On This Day] ---- August 28 - August 30 - July 29 - September 29 – listing of all days ko:8월 29일 ms:29 Ogos ja:8月29日 simple:August 29 th:29 สิงหาคม

October 28

October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 64 days remaining.

Events


- 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman emperor.
- 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine the Great defeats the forces of Maxentius.
- 1492 - Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba.
- 1516 - Battle of Yaunis Khan: Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza.
- 1531 - Battle of Amba Sel: Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia. The southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad's control.
- 1538 - The first University of the New World is founded the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of White Plains - British forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Fair Oaks ends - Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant withdraw from Fair Oaks, Virginia, after failing to breach the Confederate defenses around Richmond, Virginia.
- 1868 - Thomas Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder.
- 1886 - In New York Harbor, US President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
- 1918 - Czechoslovakia gains its independence from Austria-Hungary.
- 1918 - New Polish government in Western Galicia (Central Europe).
- 1919 - Prohibition begins: The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.
- 1922 - March on Rome: Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government with the assistance of the Catholic Church; pope Pius XI declares that "Mussolini is a man sent by divine providence."
- 1936 - US President Franklin Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.
- 1940 - World War II: Italy invades Greece through Albanian and is the selected anniversary of Greece's entry into World War II. It is celebrated in Greece as "OXI" Day.
- 1942 - The Alaska Highway is completed.
- 1943 - The Philadelphia Experiment supposedly occurred.
- 1948 - Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.
- 1949 - Georges Bidault becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1950 - The Jack Benny Show, starring Jack Benny, premieres (it ran for 15 years).
- 1955 - Bill Gates III was born in Seattle.
- 1958 - Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli becomes Pope and takes the name Pope John XXIII.
- 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
- 1965 - French foreign minister Couve de Murville travels to Moscow.
- 1965 - Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, is promulgated by Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of the alleged killing of Jesus, reversing Innocent III's declaration from 760 years ago. In short, Pope Paul VI announces that the ecumenical council has decided that Jews are not collectively responsible for the killing of Christ.
- 1965 - In St. Louis, Missouri, the 630-foot-tall parabolic (catenarian) steel Gateway Arch is completed.
- 1970 - Land speed record set by Gary Gabelich in a rocket powered automobile called the Blue Flame
- 1976 - John D. Ehrlichman, former domestic policy adviser of President Nixon and convicted Watergate felon, arrives at the Swift Trail Camp minimum-security facility in southeastern Arizona.
- 1981 - The heavy metal band Metallica is founded in San Francisco.
- 1986 - The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is celebrated in New York Harbor.
- 1986 - Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the murder of his parents, sister and twin nephews and is given five life sentences.
- 1988 - French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf states that it will resume distribution of the abortion drug RU-486.
- 1997 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains a record 337.17 points to close at 7,498.32.
- 1998 - An Air China jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan.
- 2005 - Lewis Libby, vice president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is indicted in the Valerie Plame case. Libby resigns later that day.

Births


- 1510 - St. Francis Borgia, Spanish duke and Jesuit priest (d. 1572)
- 1585 - Cornelius Jansen, Dutch bishop and religious reformer (d. 1638)
- 1691 - Peder Tordenskjold, Norwegian naval hero (d. 1720)
- 1703 - Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician (d. 1768)
- 1718 - Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian Jesuit missionary and geographer (d. 1793)
- 1793 - Eliphalet Remington, American firearms manufacturer (d. 1861)
- 1804 - Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (d. 1849)
- 1818 (O.S.) - Ivan Turgenev, Russian writer (d. 1883)
- 1846 - Georges Auguste Escoffier, French chef (d. 1935)
- 1885 (O.S.) - Velimir Khlebnikov, Russian poet (d. 1922)
- 1892 - Dink Johnson, American musician (d. 1954)
- 1896 - Howard Hanson, American composer (d. 1981)
- 1902 - Elsa Lanchester, British-born actress (d. 1986)
- 1903 - Evelyn Waugh, English writer (d. 1966)
- 1907 - Edith Head, American costume designer (d. 1981)
- 1909 - Francis Bacon, Anglo-Irish painter (d. 1992)
- 1912 - Richard Doll, English epidemiologist (d. 2005)
- 1914 - Jonas Salk, American medical scientist (d. 1995)
- 1914 - Richard Laurence Millington Synge, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- 1915 - Paul Jarrico, American screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 1922 - Gershon Kingsley, German composer
- 1922 - Simon Muzenda, Zimbabwe politician (d. 2003)
- 1930 - Bernie Ecclestone, English racing official
- 1932 - Suzy Parker, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1937 - Charlie Daniels, American musician
- 1938 - Anne Perry, English-born novelist
- 1939 - Jane Alexander, American actress
- 1944 - Dennis Franz, American actor
- 1946 - Wim Jansen, Dutch football player and coach
- 1948 - Telma Hopkins, American singer
- 1949 - Bruce Jenner, American athlete
- 1950 - Sihem Bensedrine, Tunisian human rights activist
- 1955 - Bill Gates, American software pioneer
- 1963 - Lauren Holly, American actress
- 1963 - Eros Ramazzotti, Italian singer
- 1966 - Steve Atwater, American football player
- 1967 - Julia Roberts, American actress
- 1967 - John Romero, American video game designer
- 1968 - Ben Harper. American musician
- 1972 - Terrell Davis, American football player
- 1974 - Joaquin Phoenix, Puerto Rican-born actor
- 1979 - Aki Hakala, Finnish drummer (The Rasmus)
- 1980 - Alan Smith, English footballer
- 1981 - Milan Baros, Czech footballer

Deaths


- 312 - Maxentius, Roman emperor (b. c. 278)
- 1225 - Jien, Japanese poet and historian (b. 1155)
- 1412 - Margaret I of Denmark, queen of Haakon VI of Norway (b. 1353)
- 1485 - Rodolphus Agricola, Dutch humanist (b. 1443)
- 1520 - Pier Gerlofs Donia, Frisian pirate and freedom fighter
- 1568 - Ashikaga Yoshihide, Japanese shogun (b. 1539)
- 1627 - Jahangir, Mughal Emperor of India (b. 1569)
- 1639 - Stefano Landi, Italian composer (b. 1587)
- 1646 - William Dobson, English painter (b. 1610)
- 1661 - Agustín Moreto y Cavana, Spanish playwright (b. 1518)
- 1676 - Jean Desmarets, French writer (b. 1595)
- 1703 - John Wallis, English mathematician (b. 1616)
- 1704 - John Locke, English philosopher (b. 1632)
- 1708 - Prince George of Denmark, consort of Queen Anne of England (b. 1653)
- 1716 - Stephen Fox, English politician (b. 1627)
- 1740 - Empress Anna of Russia (b. 1693)
- 1754 - Friedrich von Hagedorn, German poet (b. 1708)
- 1755 - Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, French composer (b. 1689)
- 1763 - Heinrich, count von Brühl, German statesman (b. 1700)
- 1768 - Michel Blavet, French flutist (b. 1700)
- 1792 - Paul Möhring, German physician and scientist (b. 1710)
- 1792 - John Smeaton, English civil engineer (b. 1724)
- 1800 - Artemas Ward, American politician and soldier (b. 1727)
- 1806 - Charlotte Turner Smith, English poet and novelist (b. 1749)
- 1818 - Abigail Adams, First Lady of the United States (b. 1744)
- 1841 - Johan August Arfwedson, Swedish chemist (b. 1792)
- 1857 - Louis Eugène Cavaignac, French soldier and politician (b. 1802)
- 1877 - Robert Swinhoe, British naturalist (b. 1835)
- 1879 - Marie Roch Louis Reybaud, French writer (b. 1799)
- 1897 - Hercules Robinson, British colonial administrator (b. 1824)
- 1899 - Ottmar Mergenthaler, German-born inventor (tuberculosis) (b. 1854)
- 1900 - Max Müller, German-born orientalist (b. 1823)
- 1916 - Cleveland Abbe, American meteorologist (b. 1838)
- 1916 - Oswald Boelcke, German pilot (b. 1891)
- 1917 - Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (b. 1831)
- 1918 - Ulisse Dini, Italian mathematician (b. 1845)
- 1929 - Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1849)
- 1952 - Billy Hughes, seventh Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1862)
- 1957 - Ernst Gräfenberg, German physican and scientist (b. 1881)
- 1959 - Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban revolutionary (b. 1932)
- 1965 - Earl Bostic, American saxophonist (b. 1913)
- 1973 - Taha Hussein, Egyptian writer (b. 1889)
- 1973 - Sergio Tofano, Italian actor (b. 1883)
- 1975 - Georges Carpentier, French boxer (b. 1894)
- 1986 - John Braine, English novelist (b. 1922)
- 1987 - André Masson, French artist (b. 1896)
- 1996 - Morey Amsterdam, American actor and comedian (b. 1908)
- 1998 - Ted Hughes, English poet (b. 1930)
- 2000 - Lída Baarová, Czech actress (b. 1914)
- 2000 - Carlos Guastavino, Argentine composer (b. 1912)
- 2001 - Gerard Hengeveld, Dutch composer (b. 1910)
- 2002 - Margaret Booth, American film editor (b. 1898)
- 2002 - Erling Persson, Swedish entrepreneur (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Jimmy McLarnin, Irish-born boxer (b. 1907)

Holidays and observances


- R.C. Saints - October 28th is the feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints:
  - Saint Jude (a.k.a Saint Thaddaeus or "of James")
  - St. Simon the Zealot (erroneously a.k.a. "the Canaanite")
  - St. Abraham
  - St. Anastasia II
  - St. Anglinus
  - St. Eadsin
  - St. Ferrutius
  - St. Fidelis of Como
  - St. Godwin
  - St. Honoratus of Vercelli
  - St. John Dat
  - St. Remigius
  - St. Salvius
- Also see October 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Czechoslovakia - gains its independence from Austria-Hungary (1918); Holiday in the Czech Republic, Remembrance Day in Slovakia.
- Greece - Oxi (No) Day

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/28 BBC: On This Day] ---- October 27 - October 29 - November 28 - September 28 - more historical anniversaries ko:10월 28일 ms:28 Oktober ja:10月28日 simple:October 28 th:28 ตุลาคม

17th century

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700 in the Gregorian calendar. Gregorian calendar, Iran (completed 1638) is considered to be one of the world's greatest architectural achievements.]] 1638.]]

Events


- 1602: Dutch East India Company founded. Its success contributes to the Dutch Golden Age.
- 1603: Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England.
- 1603: Tokugawa Ieyasu seizes control of Japan and establishes the Tokugawa Shogunate which rules the country until 1868.
- 1603-23: After modernizing his army, Abbas I expands Persia by capturing territory from the Ottomans and the Portuguese.
- 1605: Gunpowder Plot foiled in England.
- 1607: The London Company establishes the Jamestown Settlement in North America precipitating the British colonization of the Americas.
- 1608: Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain in New France (present-day Canada).
- 1613: The Time of Troubles in Russia ends with the establishment of the House of Romanov which rules until 1917.
- 1615: The Mughal Empire grants extensive trading rights to the British East India Company.
- 1618-48: The Thirty Years' War devastates Central Europe.
- 1624-42: As chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu centralizes power in France.
- 1625: New Amsterdam founded by the Dutch West India Company in North America.
- 1637: The Dutch tulip mania bubble bursts.
- 1637: The Pequot War, the first of the American Indian Wars
- 1638: Completion of the Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, instigated by Shah Abbas I of Safavid Persia.
- 1639-51: Wars of the Three Kingdoms, civil wars throughout Scotland, Ireland, and England.
- 1640: Portugal regains its independence from Spain bringing an end to the Iberian Union.
- 1640: Torture is outlawed in England.
- 1641: The Tokugawa Shogunate institutes Sakoku- foreigners are expelled and no one is allowed to enter or leave Japan.
- 1644: The Manchu conquer China ending the Ming Dynasty. The subsequent Qing Dynasty rules until 1912.
- 1648: The Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War and marks the ends of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire as major European powers.
- 1648-53: Fronde civil war in France.
- 1648-67: The Deluge wars leave Poland in ruins.
- 1648-69: The Ottoman Empire captures Crete from the Venetians after the Siege of Candia.
- 1652: Cape Town founded by the Dutch East India Company in South Africa.
- 1652: Anglo-Dutch Wars begin.
- 1653: The Taj Mahal in India is completed.
- 1655-61: The Northern Wars cement Sweden's rise as a Great Power.
- 1660: The Commonwealth of England ends and the monarchy is brought back during the English Restoration.
- 1661: The reign of the Kangxi Emperor of China begins.
- 1662: Koxinga captures Taiwan from the Dutch and founds the Kingdom of Tungning which rules until 1683.
- 1664: British troops capture New Amsterdam and rename it New York.
- 1665: Portugal defeats the Kongo Empire.
- 1667-99: The Great Turkish war halts the Ottoman Empire's expansion into Europe.
- 1670: The Hudson's Bay Company is founded in Canada.
- 1674: Maratha empire founded in India by Shivaji.
- 1676: Russia and the Ottoman Empire commence the Russo-Turkish Wars.
- 1682: Peter the Great becomes joint ruler of Russia (sole tsar in 1696).
- 1682: La Salle explores the length of the Mississippi River and claims Louisiana for France.
- 1683: China conquers the Kingdom of Tungning and annexes Taiwan.
- 1685: Edict of Fontainebleau outlaws Protestantism in France.
- 1688-89: After the Glorious Revolution, England becomes a constitutional monarchy and the Dutch Republic goes into decline.
- 1688-97: The Grand Alliance sought to stop French expansion during the Nine Years War.
- 1689: Nerchinsk Treaty establishes a border between Russia and China.
- 1692: Salem witch trials in Massachusetts.
- 1700-21: Russia supplants Sweden as the dominant Baltic power after the Great Northern War.

Significant people


- Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden (1594-1632).
- Francis Bacon, English philosopher and politician (1561-1626).
- Gabriel Bethlen, Hungarian prince of Transylvania (1580-1629)
- Sir Thomas Browne, English author, philosopher and scientist (1605-1682).
- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spanish Author (1574 - 1616)
- Charles I of England (1600 - 1649).
- Charles II of England (1630 - 1685).
- Queen Christina of Sweden, high profile Catholic convert, matron of arts (1626 - 1689)
- Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland (1599 - 1658)
- Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland (1626 - 1712).
- René Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician (1596 - 1650)
- John Donne, English metaphysical poet (1572 - 1631)
- Elizabeth I of England (1533 - 1603).
- Galileo Galilei, Italian natural philosopher (1564 - 1642)
- Andreas Gryphius, German poet and dramatist(1616 - 1664)
- Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher and mathematician (1588 - 1679)
- Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, physicist and astronomer (1629 - 1695)
- Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (1571 - 1630)
- Gottfried Leibniz, German philosopher and mathematician (1646 - 1716)
- John Locke, English philosopher (1632 - 1704)
- James I of England (1566 - 1625).
- James II of England (1633 - 1701).
- Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 - 1705)
- Louis XIV, King of France, (1638 - 1715)
- Mary II of England (1662 - 1694).
- Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh (d.1671), Irish historian and genealogist.
- John Milton, English author and poet (1608 - 1674)
- Miyamoto Musashi, famous warrior in Japan, author of The Book of Five Rings, a treatise on strategy and martial combat. (1584 - 1645)
- Isaac Newton, English physicist and mathematician (1642 - 1727)
- Blaise Pascal, French theologian, mathematician and physicist (1623 - 1662)
- Samuel Pepys, English civil servant and diarist (1633 - 1703)
- Henry Purcell, English composer (1659 - 1695)
- Samarth Ramdas, Hindu Saint (1608 - 1681)
- Cardinal Richelieu, French Cardinal, Duke, and politician (1585 - 1642)
- Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch painter (1606 - 1669)
- William Shakespeare, English author and poet (1564 - 1616)
- Shivaji Bhonsle, Hindu King, 1st Maratha ruler, established Hindavi Swaraj. (1630-1680)
- Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (1632 - 1677)
- Seathrún Céitinn, Irish historian (ca. 1569 - ca. 1644)
- Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland (1629 - 1696)
- Imre Thököly, prince of Transylvania, leader of the anti-Habsburg uprising in Hungary (1657 - 1705)
- Albrecht von Wallenstein, German General in the Thirty Years' War, Catholic (1583 - 1634)
- William III of England (1650 - 1702).

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

List of 17th century inventions Major changes in philosophy and science take place, often characterized as the Scientific revolution.
- Calculus is invented and used to formulate classical mechanics.
- First measurement of the speed of light, 1676.
- Banknotes were reintroduced in Europe.
- Ice cream
- Tea and coffee become popular in Europe.

Decades and years

Category:17th century Category:Centuries Category:Eighty Years' War ko:17세기 ja:17世紀 th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 17

Philosopher

A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. The word, "philosopher," literally means "lover of wisdom." Greek: "φίλος + σοφία"

Popular Western philosophers in (approximate) historical order


Not listed above: (some of) The Presocratics -- Epicurus place after Aristotle --Hellenistic Philosophers -- Cicero -- Avicenna -- Sir Thomas Browne -- Francis Bacon -- Thomas Reid -- Dugald Stewart -- James Mill -- Rudolf Steiner -- Albert Schweitzer -- G. E. Moore -- Albert Camus -- Georg Henrik von Wright -- Mortimer Adler -- Nelson Goodman -- Imre Lakatos -- Paul Feyerabend -- Mario Bunge -- Douglas Hofstadter -- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin--Ayn Rand

Eastern philosophers in approximate historical order:

Gautama Buddha -- Confucius -- Mozi -- Lao Zi -- Rhazes -- Mencius -- Zhuang Zi -- Xun Zi --Han Feizi -- Nagarjuna -- Bodhidharma -- Avicenna -- Shankara -- Dogen -- Zhu Xi -- Feng Youlan -- Iqbal -- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Philosophers: listed by philosophical school

See Philosophical Movements. Krishnamoorti

Nicknames of Medieval Philosophers

Several medieval philosophers have been given Latin nicknames -- some by their contemporaries, others by historians. For example:
- Francis Mayron - Doctor acutus, the acute doctor, or Doctor illuminatus
- St. Thomas Aquinas - Doctor Angelicus, the angelic doctor, or Doctor Communis
- William of Ockham - Doctor Invincibilis
- Alexander of Hales - Doctor Irrefragibilis
- Roger Bacon - Doctor Mirabilis, the wonderful doctor
- John Bassol - Doctor Ordinatissimus, the most methodical doctor
- Nissim Cahn - Doctor Gaon, the innovative doctor
- St. Bonaventure - Doctor Seraphicus
- Henry Goethals (Hendricus Bonicollius) - Doctor Solemnis, the solemn doctor
- Richard Middleton - the solid doctor, or the profound doctor
- Duns Scotus - Doctor Subtilis, the discriminating doctor, or Doctor Marianus
- Albertus Magnus - Doctor Universalis
- Durandus de Sancto Portiano - the most resolute doctor
- Thomas Bradwardine - the profound doctor
- Jean Ruysbroeck (Joannes Ruysbrokius) - the divine doctor or ecstatic doctor See Also the articles at: Philosophy, Eastern philosophy, Epistemology, Ethics, Metaphysics, Aesthetics, Deconstruction, Ontology, Logic, Reason, Mathematicians, Feminism, Scientists, List of philosophers, and a fuller listing at :Category:Philosophers. ---- The Philosopher is also the nickname of Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 22. Category:Philosophy Category:Humanities occupations ko:철학자 ja:思想家 th:นักปรัชญา

Social contract

:For political policies of the same name see Bob Rae's Social Contract (Ontario), Harold Wilson's Social Contract (Britain), Malaysia's Social contract (Malaysia), and The Social Contract Press, for the American printing company. Social contract (or contractarianism) is a phrase used in philosophy, political science and sociology to denote a real or hypothetical agreement within a state regarding the rights and responsibilities of the state and its citizens, or more generally a similar concord between a group and its members, or between individuals. All members within a society are assumed to agree to the terms of the social contract by their choice to stay within the society or by not violating the contract. The social contract, as a political theory, explains the origin and purpose of the state and of human rights. The essence of the theory (in its most common form, namely the one proposed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau) is as follows: In order to live in society, human beings agree to an implicit social contract, which gives them certain rights in return for giving up certain freedoms they would have in a state of nature. Thus, the rights (and responsibilities) of individuals are the terms of the social contract, and the state is the entity created for the purpose of enforcing that contract. Also, the people may change the terms of the contract if they so desire; rights and responsibilities are not fixed or "natural". However, more rights always entail more responsibilities, and fewer responsibilities always entail fewer rights.

History

Contract theory is certainly not new; in Plato's Republic (c.360 BC) Glaucon suggests that justice is a 'pact' among rational egoists, while Cicero (106-43 BC) posited such a theory in the latter stages of the Roman Republic. The first modern philosopher to articulate a detailed contract theory was Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), who contended that people in a state of nature ceded their individual rights to a strong sovereign in return for his protection, so social contract evolves out of pragmatic self-interest. John Locke (1634-1704) also posited a contract theory; however, unlike Hobbes, Locke believed that people contracted with one another for a particular kind of government, and that they could modify or even abolish the government. Thus Locke's vision was that of an innate, essential human rationality constituting 'natural law'. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), in his influential 1762 treatise The Social Contract, outlined a different version of contract theory. Rousseau's theory has many similarities with the individualist Lockean tradition, but also departs from it on many significant points. For example, Rousseau theory asserts that an individual should submit is own will to the "general will," and is therefore more collectivist than individualist. This theory has already been presented in the second introductory paragraph of this article, since Rousseau's version of the social contract is the one most often associated with the term "social contract" itself. It is also worth noting that in the century following Rousseau's death, his theories were an important influence in the formation of the socialist movement. Individualist anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon said that social contract is not between individuals and the state, but between individuals themselves to refrain from governing each other: "What really is the Social Contract? An agreement of the citizen with the government? No, that would mean but the continuation of [Rousseau’s] idea. The social contract is an agreement of man with man; an agreement from which must result what we call society. In this