Locke, John /lɒk $ lɑːk/ BrE AmE
(1632–1704) an English ↑ philosopher who developed the idea of ↑ empiricism in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding . In his Two Treatises on Civil Government he wrote that a king or government received the right to rule from the people and not from God, and that the people should be able to change their government if they were not satisfied with it. These ideas influenced the ↑ Declaration of Independence in the US.