John Locke (1632–1704)
![Portrait John Locke (1632–1704 ), Lithographie von de Fonroug[e] nach H. Garnier, ohne Datum; Bildquelle: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Washington, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b07397.](http://ieg-ego.eu/illustrationen/bevoelkerungstheorie-bilderordner/john-locke-1632-1704-img/@@images/aff64e16-dc90-4886-8e9c-98786f8ca7ba.jpeg "John Locke (1632-1704) IMG")
The English philosopher John Locke is considered to be the founder of empiricism and the Enlightenment critique of knowledge. In particular, his epistemological magnum opus An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) and his writings on the state (Two Treatises of Government, 1690; Letter Concerning Toleration, 1689) had a significant impact upon, amongst others, Hume, Voltaire and Kant, as well as the liberal concept of the constitutional state.
Portrait of John Locke (1632–1704), lithography by de Fonroug[e] after H. Garnier, undated; source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Washington, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b07397, public domain.