Enlightenment thinker John Locke

John Locke was one of the most important Enlightenment thinkers of the 17^th century. A proponent of reason as man’s most important tool, his writings on human knowledge, social interaction, property rights, the self, and religious toleration helped pave the way for the decline of absolutism and the rise of classical liberalism and republicanism.
One of Locke’s most influential work was his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in which he attempted to discover how we acquire knowledge. Published in 1690, Essay communicated his belief that humans have a “God-given obligation to obtain knowledge and not always to acquire our beliefs by accepting the word of authorities or common superstition.” Locke also believed that human beings were born without any innate knowledge; with what he referred to as a blank slate, or tabula rasa. He determined that we gather knowledge through our experience and interpretation of facts.

(Source: IEP)