John Locke viewed human nature positively and thought that people were essentially fair and unselfish. He believed that it existed only to protect its people and to allow people to have liberty and property. He posited that a person's mind begins as a blank slate that is then shaped and formed over time through reflections and sensations — in other words, experience. 0 0. 0. The U.S. Supreme Court: Who Are the Nine Justices on the Bench Today? John Locke was a reluctant democrat who believed in a direct form of democracy. The government should exert absolute rule to control citizens. A COVID-19 Prophecy: Did Nostradamus Have a Prediction About This Apocalyptic Year? It was from John Locke that Thomas Jefferson got the ideas he expressed in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In Locke's perfect ideology, every man would be free and equal, able to pursue their interests and survival without interference. John Locke (1632-1704) was one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment. The survival of the fittest would lead to government by the most able. So in arguing against the one, Locke could not help but argue against the other. John Locke believed that the role of the government was to protect its citizens unalienable rights - that is, life, liberty, and property. His father, also named John, was a legal clerk and served with the Parliamentary forces in the English Civil War. Locke believedthat punishment requires that … Government was not Absolute monarchs have the right to rule through divine right. He insists that each individual has a right to living on this planet the way he or she chooses. What did John Locke believe? All governments should have three branches with equal power. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Sir Francis Bacon, Locke is equally important to social contract theory. A. He was born in 1632 and studied at Oxford University. He was born in Wrington, England in 1632… John Locke's social contract theory includes the idea that life, liberty, and property are given to us by nature and shouldn't be taken away. He expressed three of them as "life, liberty, and property." His philosophies were highly influential and inspired other well-known philosophers, such as David Hume and Immanuel Kant. Property Locke argued that anyone who interacts with a piece of property is thereby claiming ownership of it.