John Locke quotes. Great Homeless Philosopher
Once upon a time at home good friend John Locke, on that moment Peer Anthony Ashley-Cooper, a few aristocratic friends gathered. They were all in a much higher position than Locke, and intended to spend the evening playing cards, chatting to their heart's content. Locke was unpleasantly struck by the idleness of the conversations of such high-ranking persons, took out a notebook and began to write down what he heard. Ashley's guests became interested and asked a friend of the host what he was recording. Locke noticed that for the first time he was in the company of such noble men, and therefore did not want to miss a single word of theirs. After that, he read them everything he had written down. The guests appreciated Locke's subtle hint, left the game and changed the topic of conversation to one more befitting of their status.
John Locke. Not later than 1704. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
This episode characterizes John Locke both as a person who kept himself on an equal footing and did not servility to his superiors, and as a subtle thinker who was better than most who knew how to observe. The sprouts of these qualities were sown in him by his father, who very skillfully raised the future philosopher. He gradually let the boy close to him, did not indulge or overpraise him, but did not punish him beyond measure. After leaving school, Locke entered the University of Oxford, where he became first a bachelor and then a master of arts. At the same time, a university education weighed heavily on Locke. Oxford did not satisfy his curiosity in the least, but only took away precious time that he could devote to self-education. Years later, ideas about learning that originated at the university would spill out into the pages of Thoughts on Education.
About education
"In a healthy body healthy mind". It is from these words Juvenal Locke began his work, where he outlined his vision of the gentleman's upbringing system. In it, Locke opposed the “hard labor” of the school education that existed at that time, when children were forced to spend hours cramming Latin and Greek language, the necessity of possession of which the philosopher questioned. Primary, in his opinion, was moral education, and education stood in the background. First it was necessary to raise a noble and physically developed person, and then fill it with knowledge, the philosopher was sure.
In addition, Locke considered the approach of teachers to students very important. The teacher must first of all capture the attention of the child, interest him in the reported topic. “We,” wrote Locke, “love freedom from the cradle. We know a lot of things that disgust us just because they were imposed on us in childhood. I always thought that any serious occupation can turn into pleasure. These words seem relevant today, and not at all because they have become common truth for every teacher.
Tramp Aristocrat
Locke met Anthony Ashley in 1666, shortly before he became Lord Chancellor. The future Earl of Shaftesbury was pleasantly surprised when he found a wonderful and worthy interlocutor in Locke. They became very attached to each other, and soon Ashley invited Locke to settle in his house, becoming the family doctor - the thinker was well versed in medicine - and at the same time the teacher of the sons of the Lord Chancellor. In such wanderings through strange houses, the philosopher spent his whole life - he, in fact, never had his own house.
Locke can be considered a unique person not only because of his work, but also because of his lifestyle. By the age of 34, when he met Ashley, Locke did not make a solid career - he simply did not aspire to this, did not earn the fame of a prominent scientist, did not increase his fortune. The thinker was a stranger to ambition and careerism, did not try to "sell" his ideas at a higher price, did not shout about them. All he cared about was the search for truth. And therefore, for a long time, Locke was simply not noticed against the background of much more noisy "wise men", whose ideas subsequently sunk into oblivion. It is unlikely that he would have been noticed in our almost even more noisy time. Locke was modest, did not aspire to titles and positions, he helped friends then and in that place, when and where he was asked about it. At various times, for a short time, he was a doctor, a statesman, and a teacher.
About the board
John Locke. Engraving. Not later than 1704. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The high-ranking Ashley, who spent much time talking with his family doctor, soon introduced him to politics, which Locke had never been particularly interested in, and to theology. As a result, Locke comprehended them to such an extent that he went further than the count in his knowledge. One of Locke's major works eventually became known as Two Treatises on Government, in which he outlined his theory of constitutional monarchy. The philosopher says that the king should be at the head of the state, but his power is limited by the government and the constitution. The liberal ideas of Locke, outlined there, do not lose their relevance to this day. He was an ardent opponent of any form of tyranny, where the authorities neglect the rights of their citizens and legislate according to their own needs, and not the interests of the people. Locke believed that the most important thing was that the state had to come from a social contract and only with the voluntary consent of people. In addition, the goal of any state was to care for the common good. And the laws were recognized by him as just only when they were aimed at the same common good. Locke's most wild idea for our contemporaries is about the sovereignty of the people, which he placed above the sovereignty of the state. The protection of the latter can lead to the usurpation and destruction of the population, without which there will be no state, said the Briton. Locke saw the way to fight against the "presumptuous" power in the revolution.
About religious tolerance
After meeting Ashley, Locke lived and traveled for a long time with the earl and his family - sometimes at court, sometimes falling out of favor, Shaftesbury often rushed between Britain and Holland. Locke followed the same path.
Settling in Amsterdam after the death of his faithful friend - Ashley-Cooper died in 1683 - the philosopher turns to the topic of religion. In Two Treatises on Government, Locke argues with Sir Robert Filmer, who in his work "Patriarchy" argued that any power is an absolute monarchy, the roots of which lead to Adam, and any person is therefore not free from birth. “God commanded that Adam's sovereignty should be unlimited,” Filmer was sure. Combining these theses, he said that any person, in fact, from birth was doomed to be a slave of the monarch-father. And the rulers, thus, stood above any laws. Locke brilliantly managed to refute Filmer's thoughts.
Shortly before the "Two Treatises" the philosopher published several pamphlets "on religious tolerance", which would certainly have unpleasantly struck the current "Orthodox activists." There he insisted that the church should be separated from the state, and every person has the right to freedom of religion. The church, according to Locke, was supposed to win people over to its side by piety, and not by violent means.
Locke's ideas were appreciated at their true worth at the end of his life. He was in very good relations With William of Orange who ascended the British throne after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. AT last years Locke published almost all of his works, which in one way or another subsequently influenced Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume and other smartest representatives of mankind.
John Locke, English philosopher, educator and statesman - one of the founders of the empirical-sensualist theory of knowledge. Born in the family of a provincial lawyer. He graduated from Westminster School, Oxford University, where he taught Greek, rhetoric, and ethics for more than 30 years in different years. The pedagogical views of J. Locke reflected his socio-political and philosophical views, as well as considerable pedagogical experience, accumulated by him as a teacher and home tutor in the family of the leader of the Whig party, Earl Shaftesbury.
The theoretical justification for the emergence of knowledge, ideas from the world of the senses was presented by him in the fundamental work "Experience on Human Understanding" (1690).
J. Locke's criticism of the doctrine of innate ideas and the concept of the experiential origin of human knowledge developed in connection with this became the cornerstone of both his theory of knowledge and the system of pedagogical ideas.
The categorical rejection of the traditional point of view on the innateness of human ideas and ideas, the defense of the sensationalist theory of knowledge, and great attention to empirical psychology allowed Locke to develop an interesting pedagogical concept, which he outlined in his Thoughts on Education (1693). Its essence is the education of a new man-gentleman. A characteristic feature of Locke's pedagogical theory is utilitarianism; he considered the principle of usefulness to be the guiding principle of education.
He died in 1704. A Latin inscription composed by himself is inscribed on the tombstone: “Stop the traveler: here lies John Locke. If you ask what kind of person he was, I will answer you that he lived contentedly with his mediocrity. Enlightened by science, he served only the truth itself. Learn this from his writings, which will more accurately show you what is left of him than the dubious praises of an epitaph.
Excerpts from "Thoughts on Education"
“A healthy mind in a healthy body is a brief but complete description of a happy state in this world. Whoever possesses both, it remains for him to desire little; and whoever is deprived of even one, he can only compensate little for anything else. The happiness or unhappiness of a man is, for the most part, the work of his own hands. He whose spirit is an unwise guide will never find the right way; and one whose body is unhealthy and weak will never be able to move forward on this path.”<…>
Physical health.“A child's soul is just as easy to be directed one way or another as river water; but although this is the main task of education and our concern should be given mainly to the inner side of a person. However, the mortal shell should not be ignored either.<…>
"... gentlemen should temper their children in the same way as honest farmers and wealthy yeomen do."<…>
Warm.“The first thing to take care of is that children, neither in winter nor in summer, dress or cover up too warmly ... Our body will endure everything that it is accustomed to from the very beginning ...<…>I would also advise washing the boy's feet daily with cold water, and making his shoes so thin that they get wet and leak water when he happens to step into them.<…>The most important goal is the hardening of these parts of the body by frequent and habitual washing with cold water and in this way preventing such harm as is caused by accidentally soaking the feet of people otherwise brought up.<…>Just start doing it in the spring, with lukewarm water, and gradually moving to colder water.<…>
Food.“As for food, it should be quite ordinary and simple; and I would advise, as long as the child is in a child's dress, or at least until two or three years of age, not to give him meat at all.<…>But if my young gentleman must already receive meat, then let him receive it only once a day and, moreover, 1 time and only one kind. Regular beef, lamb and veal, etc. without any other seasoning but hunger, best; and great care must be taken to ensure that he eats a lot of bread, one bread or with something else, and that he chews well any kind of solid food.<…>For breakfast and dinner, it is very useful to give children milk, milk soup, porridge with water, oatmeal and a whole range of dishes that ... are very little seasoned with sugar, and even better without it at all.<…>You should also moderately salt their food and do not accustom them to heavily seasoned dishes.<…>
Bed.“The bed of a child should be hard, and a quilt is better than a feather bed; a hard bed strengthens the limbs, while burrowing every night in featherbeds pampers and relaxes the body and is often the cause of weakness and the forerunner of an early grave.<…>
“Sleep is a great restorative given by nature.”<…>
Early age.“The great mistake ... is that parents seldom pay sufficient attention to making the soul of the child obedient to discipline and reason, and at the most suitable period for this, when the young soul is most tender and most easily affected. The vice lies not in having desires that correspond to these different ages, but in not being able to subordinate them to the rules and limitations of the mind ... He who is not accustomed to subordinate his desires to the mind of others when he is young, is unlikely to listen and obey the voice of his own mind who has reached the age when he is able to use it.<…>So parents, encouraging the whims of children and pampering them when they are small, spoil their natural inclinations, and then are surprised that the water, the source of which they themselves have poisoned, has a bitter taste.<…>
Whims.“So, whoever makes it his goal to always rule his children, he should begin this while they are still very small, and see to it that they completely obey the will of their parents.<…>When children grow up, we must look at them as equals to us, as people with the same passions, with the same desires as our passions and desires.<…>Fear and reverence should give you the first power over their souls, and love and friendship should secure it.<…>
Beatings.“The usual method of influencing punishment and the rod, which requires neither effort nor much time, this only method of maintaining discipline, which is widely recognized and understood by educators, is the least suitable of all conceivable methods of education.<…>I cannot, therefore, consider any punishment useful for the child, in which the shame of suffering for the committed offense does not affect him more than the suffering itself. This method of correction naturally engenders in the child an aversion to the fact that the educator should force him to love.<…>
"... slavish discipline creates a slavish character."
Awards.“Beatings and all other forms of humiliating corporal punishment are not appropriate measures of discipline in the upbringing of children ... These measures should be used very rarely and, moreover, only for serious reasons and only in extreme cases. On the other hand, rewarding children by rewarding them with things they like should be carefully avoided.<…>In order to make him a good, reasonable and virtuous person, you need to teach him to resist his inclinations and refuse to satisfy his taste for wealth, panache, delicacy, etc., when reason advises him, and duty requires the opposite from him.<…>
Rules.“... the error of the usual method of education: it consists in burdening children's memory with all sorts of rules and regulations, which are often inaccessible to their understanding.<…>Create only a few laws, but see to it that, once made, they are observed. …children should not be taught with rules that will always escape their memory. Make them learn everything that you think they should be able to do through the necessary practice, fitting this practice to each suitable occasion, and if possible, create these cases yourself. This will give rise to habits in them which, once established, will act of themselves, easily and naturally, without the help of memory.
Practice.“This method of teaching children by repeated practice, by repeatedly doing, under the supervision and guidance of the educator, the same action until the children are accustomed to doing it well, from whatever side we consider it, has so many advantages over the method calculated on the rules".<…>
Punishment.“... with skillful upbringing, there will very rarely be a reason to use beatings or violence. ... one who deals with children should thoroughly study their natures and abilities and, with the help of private trials, monitor which way they easily deviate and what suits them, what are their natural inclinations, how they can be improved and what they are may come in handy.<…>The right method of teaching these things is to instill in the children a love and inclination for that which you have them to learn, and which will require diligence and diligence from them.”<…>
Mandatory tasks.“No subject that they have to learn should be made into a burden on them or imposed on them as something obligatory.<…>These changes of mood must be watched carefully and strictly used those favorable periods when they are ready and disposed.<…>Make sure that the teacher does not have to call to study, but that they themselves ask him to teach them, as they ask their comrades to play with them.<…>
Reasoning.“Children understand reasoning from the early age when they start talking.<…>You must, by gentleness of your treatment and restraint even in the measures of influence on them, teach them to understand that what you do comes from your mind and is useful and necessary for them.<…>
Examples.“However, the simplest and easiest, and at the same time the most effective method education of children and the formation of their external behavior is to show them by clear examples how they should act and what they should avoid.<…>
“No words can make virtues and vices so clear to their understanding as the actions of other people, if at the same time you direct their observation and fix their attention on one or another good or bad feature in the behavior of these people. And the positive or negative aspects of many things, whether with a good upbringing or a bad one, will be better known and more deeply imprinted from the examples of other people than from those rules and ideas that can be given to them in this regard.
“... nothing penetrates so imperceptibly and so deeply into a person’s soul as an example: no matter what bad trait people see in themselves and forgive themselves, it can only inspire them with disgust and shame when it appears before them in other people” .
Educator.“If you can find an educator who, considering himself a substitute for the father, who has taken over his cares, and sharing the above ideas, will try from the very beginning to put them into practice, then in the future he will be convinced that the work is already quite easy and your son, I I think he will make such progress in learning and in good manners, which you, perhaps, cannot imagine.
<…>“Just as the example of a father should teach the child respect for his educator, so the example of the educator should encourage the child to the actions that he requires from the latter. His own behavior must in no case be at odds with his prescriptions, unless he wishes to spoil the child. It is pointless on the part of the educator to talk about the curbing of passions if he gives free rein to any of his own passions; and fruitless will be his efforts to eradicate in his pupil the vice or obscene trait that he admits in himself.
Curiosity.“As they grow older and more sensible, you can give them more freedom in those cases when reason speaks in them.<…>Curiosity in children should be as carefully encouraged as other desires are suppressed.<…>Entertainment is as necessary as work and food.<…>
“Giving children freedom in their entertainments is also useful in the sense that in the conditions of such freedom the natural characters of children are revealed, their inclinations and abilities are revealed, and reasonable parents can draw instructions from this regarding the choice of career and profession for them and at the same time regarding ways of correcting any deficiency which, according to their observation, threatens to send the child into a bad path.
A complaint."To be tolerant of children's complaints is to relax and pamper their souls."<…>
Generosity.“As for the possession and possession of things, then teach children to easily and freely share with their friends what they have, and make them experience that the most generous person is always the richest and, in addition, still enjoys recognition and approval.”<…>
Sense of justice.“If generosity should be encouraged in children, then, of course, one must be very careful to ensure that they do not violate the rules of justice: every time children do this, correct them, and when there is a reason for this, and strictly punish them” .<…>
Compulsion.“Children love variety and freedom, and that it is precisely this that makes games attractive to them, and therefore they should not be forced as a duty either a textbook or anything else that we think they should learn.”<…>
Toys.“Children should have toys, and, moreover, toys of various kinds, but these toys should be kept by their educators or by someone else, while the child should receive at his disposal only one toy at a time, and only when he returns it, receive another” .<…>
Doctrine. “I put the teaching in last place and give it the least importance.<…>I think that you will consider a complete fool who does not put a virtuous or wise person infinitely higher than a great scholar. … teaching science greatly contributes to the development of both virtue and wisdom in people with good spiritual inclinations, but… in other people who do not have such inclinations, it only leads to the fact that they become even more stupid and bad people.<…>The boy needs to be educated, but it should be in the background.”<…>
Letter.“When a child can already read English well, it's time to start teaching him how to write. To do this, first of all, teach him how to hold the pen correctly.<…>
French.“Once the boy has learned to speak English, it is time for him to start learning some other language.<…>But since French is a living language and is used more in conversation, it needs to be learned earlier ... "<…>
Latin language.“When a boy already speaks and reads French well (usually achieved at one or two years old), he can move on to Latin.”<…>
Geography.“I think we should start with geography: for, since the study of the shape of the globe, the position and boundaries of the four parts of the world and individual kingdoms and countries is only an exercise of the eyes and memory, the child will learn this with pleasure and remember these things.”<…>
Arithmetic.“When the natural divisions of the globe are well imprinted in the boy’s memory, it will be time to move on to arithmetic.<…>Arithmetic is the easiest form of abstract thinking; and therefore it usually turns out to be accessible to the mind earlier than others, and it is the first to get used to it.<…>
Astronomy."Having learned to handle it easily, he can move on to a celestial globe."<…>
Geometry.“After he has become familiar with the globe to the extent I have indicated above, it is useful to try to teach him some geometry. I think it's enough for him to master the first six books of Euclid."<…>
Laws."The right method of studying law is, in my opinion, to get acquainted with the foundations of our English constitution and government from the old books of customary law and from the writings of some of the more modern writers."<…>
Craft.“A child must learn a craft, manual labor; and even more than that - not to one, but to two or three, and one more thoroughly. Since the inclination of children to activity should always be directed towards something useful to them, two kinds of benefits should be considered that can be expected from their activities:
An art learned by exercise is itself worth learning. Such is not only the knowledge of languages and sciences, but also painting, turning, gardening, hardening and working iron, and all other useful arts worth learning.
Exercise as such, regardless of any other considerations, is necessary or beneficial to health.”<…>
Of the handicrafts, for the assimilation of which, as well as for the exercise in them, physical labor is required, many thanks to this exercise not only increase our dexterity and art, but also strengthen our health, especially if they are practiced in the open air.<…>
Gardening.“For a country gentleman, I would suggest one of the following two occupations, or better still, both: gardening or in general Agriculture and woodwork, such as carpentry, joinery, turning; for for an office or business person they are useful and healthy entertainment.<…>
Entertainment.“Do not also think that I am mistaken when I call such exercises and handicrafts entertainment or recreation; rest does not consist in idleness, but only in relieving a tired organ by changing occupations.<…>
To the aforementioned crafts one can add perfume-making, varnishing, engraving, and certain types of work on iron, copper, and silver; …can learn to carve, grind and set gemstones, grind and polish optical glasses. With a wide variety of intricate handicrafts, it is impossible that there should not be one that would suit his soul and taste, unless he is a lazy and spoiled person; and this cannot be assumed with proper education.<…>
... a young man in a rare case wishes to remain in complete idleness and idleness; and if this is the case, then we have a vice that needs to be corrected.
Accounting. <…>“Knowledge of accounting will not help a gentleman to make a fortune; however, there is, perhaps, no more useful and effective way to save him the fortune that he possesses than bookkeeping.<…>
“... everyone must admit that nothing can better keep a person within certain limits than a constant account of the state of his affairs by regularly keeping accounts.”
John Locke, (1632-1704), philosopher and politician
It is pointless on the part of the educator to talk about the curbing of passions if he gives free rein to any of his own passions; and fruitless will be his efforts to eradicate in his pupil the vice or obscene trait that he admits in himself.
Politeness is the first and most agreeable virtue.
The great art of learning a lot is to take on a little at once.
Things are good and evil only in relation to pleasure and pain. We call good that which is capable of evoking or increasing our pleasure. Evil. we name something that is capable of causing us or increasing some kind of suffering.
Gymnastics prolongs a person's youth.
Will and desire should not be confused. I want action that pulls in one direction, while my desire pulls in the opposite direction.
Twenty wrongdoings are faster than one wrongdoing.
Nine-tenths of the people we meet are what they are - good or bad, useful or useless - thanks to their upbringing.
The actions of people are the best translators of their thoughts.
Bad examples are certainly stronger than good rules.
There is hardly anything more necessary for knowledge, for a quiet life and for the success of any business, than the ability of a person to control his thoughts.
If strictness leads to a cure for a bad inclination, then this result is often achieved by planting another, even worse and more dangerous disease - spiritual bruising.
There are two kinds of bad manners: the first consists in timid shyness, the second in obscene carelessness and irreverence in manner. Both can be avoided by observing one rule: not to have a low opinion of yourself or others.
Envy is the restlessness of the soul, caused by the consciousness that the good we desire has been taken over by another, who, in our opinion, should not have it before us.
True courage is expressed in calm self-control and in the imperturbable performance of one's duty, in spite of any disasters and dangers.
True courage is ready to face any danger and remains steadfast, no matter what calamity threatens.
Eloquence has, like the fair sex, such significant charms that it does not tolerate attacks on itself. And it would be useless to scold the art of deception when people enjoy this kind of deception.
Courage is the guardian and support of all other virtues, and one who is deprived of courage can hardly be firm in the performance of duty and show all the qualities of a truly worthy person.
Nothing penetrates so imperceptibly and deeply into a person’s soul as an example: no matter what bad trait people overlook in themselves and forgive themselves, it can only inspire them with disgust and shame when it appears before them in other people.
... They do not always blush when they experience shame, which is the anxiety of the mind at the thought that something indecent has been done or such that it will reduce the respect for us from others.
Ridicule is the most subtle way to expose the faults of others.
There is no greater rudeness than interrupting another during his speech.
No one has yet managed to be so cunning as to hide this quality of his.
No one knows the strength of his abilities until he has tested them.
Nothing is so beautiful to the eye as the truth is to the mind; nothing is so ugly and irreconcilable with reason as a lie.
Moral rules need proof, hence they are not innate.
Teaching the sciences promotes the development of virtue in people with good spiritual inclinations; in people who do not have such inclinations, it only leads to the fact that they become even more stupid and bad.
The basis of all virtue and all dignity lies in the ability of a person to refuse to satisfy his desires when reason does not approve of them.
The well-being of the entire people depends on proper education.
The vice is not in having, but in the inability to subordinate them to the rules of reason; it's not about whether or not you experience the cravings themselves, but about the ability to manage them and refuse them.
Memory is a copper plate, covered with letters, which time imperceptibly smooths out, if sometimes they are not renewed with a chisel.
Pretense tries to correct natural flaws. Its goal is to please, but it never achieves it.
Tell a man passionately in love that his beloved is deceiving him, present him with twenty witnesses to his beloved's infidelity, and you can bet ten to one that a few kind words from her will refute all the evidence of the accusers.
Create only a few laws, but make sure they are respected.
Fear is the anxiety of the soul at the thought of future evil, which is likely to fall upon us.
Happiness in its full extent is the highest pleasure of which we are capable, and unhappiness is the highest suffering.
Lies have a constant companion - cunning.
I cannot consider any punishment useful for a child, in which the shame of suffering for a committed offense does not affect him more than the suffering itself.
In an ill-bred man, boldness takes the form of rudeness; learning becomes in him pedantry; wit - buffoonery, simplicity - uncouthness, good nature - flattery.
Cunning is only the absence of reason: not being able to achieve its goals in direct ways, it tries to achieve them in picaresque and roundabout ways; and her trouble lies in the fact that cunning helps only once, and then always only hinders.
Logic is the anatomy of thought.
The one whom the child does not love has no right to punish the child.
It is easier for a mentor to command than to teach.
