John Locke (August 29, 1632 to October 28, 1704) was an influential British philosopher. He is the one who came up with the idea that the characters of men are determined by their experiences, rather than innate influences (such as original sin).
Locke, in Two Treatises of Government, (1689) refutes an opposing theory, that of Hobbes's Leviathan, when he says - against the need to have an absolute monarch to ensure a peaceful society - that men are not actually,
.. so foolish that they take care to avoid what Mischiefs are done to them by Pole—Cats or Foxes, but are content, nay think it Safety, to be devoured by Lions.
The significance of John Locke has been summarized:
Years after his death we are still gauging his impact on Western thought. His theories concerning the separation of Church and State, religious freedom, and liberty, not only influenced European thinkers such as the French Enlightenment writer, Voltaire, but shaped the thinking of America's founders, from Alexander Hamilton to Thomas Jefferson.
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