On Locke's View Of Freedom And Its Ethics Significance

John Locke, a famous British philosopher and political thinker, is the main representative of liberalism and classical natural law school in the seventeenth century. Although Locke does no have specific ethical writings, his discussion on moral issues, which almost hasn't been paid attention to by people, is everywhere in all his writings. If we carefully organize his ethical thinking, we shall find that he has also made many remarkable achievements in ethics. One of them is his argument on freedom which has important impact on future generations.Once it comes to freedom, we will immediately associate it with the concept of human rights. Nowadays, the issue of freedom and human rights is one of the most sensitive, complex and controversial issues on political and cultural exchanging between Chinese and the Western. Seeking commonality and building a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures are our historic mission arid major responsibility. Getting a deep understanding of freedom can not only help us understand the core elements of the origin and development of the Western history, cultures and political system, but also help us interpret deeply the concept of human rights in the Western liberal tradition and reveal its cultural connotations. And especially, it will also help us build an open platform for thoughts dialoguing and exchanging between Chinese and the Western. Studies on freedom can not only raise the morality level of the public in our country, but also promote the development of Chinese characteristics socialism human rights theory in new era. The discussion of freedom should be one of the basic subjects of ethics rather than be confined to the field of political study.Locke's Freedom has a special meaning and status in Western history, which is not only the basis of the system of Western political and human rights, but also is an important part of the Western ethics. It highlights the value of freedom and respecting for the rights of people, and reflects the color of utilitarian in ethics, which has a certain value and significance for studying. This dissertation attempts to start with a ethics perspective, and systematically excavate out Locke's thought on freedom and its ethics meaning for enriching the ideological content of the materialist ethical discipline and providing a reference for the development of theory of human rights of China.This dissertation includes4chapters. Firstly, the preamble elaborates the significance and status of the research. And then, the first chapter traces the John Locke's life and his sources of ethics of human rights, includes how he took to the road of researching philosophy and his thrilling political career; the second chapter analyzes Locke's theological foundation of the thinking of the freedom thought, which is the basis of his Freedom; the third chapter discusses Locke's Freedom and its ethics meaning, including his conception of being are born free, right of freedom and the tolerant spirit of religious freedom; the forth chapter analyzes and summarizes the value of Locke's theory and historical limited of Freedom, and then combined with his freedom to analyze its practical significance for the development of China's current human rights building; finally, the dissertation ends with a short summary.