JUSTIFYING OF JOHN LOCKE: “NATURALIZATION” OF BRITISH IMLERIALISM?

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of revaluing John Locke’s intellectual heritage. The denial of the “myth of the Given” in the tradition of empirical philosophy, the reconstruction of the political context of writing “The Two Treatises of Government”, as well as the criticism of post-colonial historians in the second half of the 20th century placed Locke’s authority in doubt. The paper analyzes the traditions of Locke’s “accusation” and “defense” that have developed in foreign and native historiography. The tradition of the accusation is based on some facts of the biography of Locke, including his concern with the writing of the Constitution of Carolina (16) and ownership of some territories of this colony, as well as his closeness to his patron Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury and the circumstances of Exclusion Crisis, in which he was participated. But even more resonant are some of Locke’s theories and arguments, as well as the logic of reasoning in his famous essays “Two treatises of government” and “An Essay concerning human understanding”. The tradition of defense appeal to the complex context of Locke’s life and writings. Locke’s discourse of justification has been researched from the point of view of the emotional reflection of professional historians, as well as a general crisis in historical consciousness, efforts to resolve which were realized in the term of “pastness of the past”. This approach defines new research. Moreover, the author pays attention to the actualization of Locke’s professional experience in the area of medicine in the works of historians. Comprehensive knowledge of natural history, as well as long-term medical practice, not only influenced Locke’s ethics, but also determined his logic of argumentation. Locke’ favorite strategy for approving his ideas seems to be naturalization as giving a natural character to social terms and appeal for examples and proofs to natural phenomena.