John Locke

Englishman John Locke (1632-1704) was the leading political philosopher during the Enlightenment, whose ideas helped the American colonists form a new government. Locke described society as a contract between individuals called the "social contract", and held that the formation of collectives by individuals was the only way to ensure economic prosperity (see his Second Treatise on Government). Locke’s view helped lay the foundation for the constitutional government that we use in the United States, though unfortunately the Founding Fathers do not appear to have read chapter IV of the Second Treatise. Locke had built on the prior work of Englishmen Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes. Locke is also famous for his theory of the "blank slate", which he is said to have first conceived while spending many hours of fruitless effort on a math problem as a boy. Indeed, despite his brilliance in other areas, none Locke's theories are notable for use of advanced or even intermediate-level mathematics.