John Locke was born in Wrington, England, and studied at Oxford University. In 1667 he joined the household of Lord Anthony Ashley—later first Earl of Shaftesbury—as his personal physician and adviser in scientific and political matters. From 1672 to 1673 Locke served as England’s secretary of the Council of Trade and Plantations. He moved to France in 1675, but after Shaftesbury died, Locke fled to Holland because he had been accused of being involved in plots with Shaftesbury. Locke returned to England in 1689 to become commissioner of appeal and an adviser to the government on monetary policy. Locke wrote a major philosophical work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which discussed the existence of God and the possibility of moral principles being rationally demonstrated. Locke also argued in this book that all knowledge was founded on and ultimately derived from the senses. His most famous writing, Two Treatises on Government, outlined his liberal ideas about government. His writings are said to have influenced the writing of the American colonies’ Declaration of Independence.
