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|Historical Context=Locke lived in politically turbulent times for England. Conflicts between the King and the Parliament and between Protestants, Anglicans, and Catholics led to civil war in the 1640's. King Charles I was defeated and killed. The monarchy was abolished in favor of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate in the 1650's. The protectorate collapsed and the monarchy was restored in 1660. In 1668, King James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution in favor of William of Orange and his wife Mary. [[CiteRef::Uzgalis (2016)|p. 3]]
Although Locke was born into a family of modest means, he was able to obtain an excellent education by way of his father's connections. In 1647, at the age of fifteen, he began studies at Westminster School, considered London's best. At twenty, he began studies at Christ ChurchCollege, Oxford. His studies focused on logic, metaphysics, and languages taught within the framework of '''Aristotelian scholasticism''', which he found he had little use for. [[CiteRef::Uzgalis (2016)| pp. 3-4]] This was more than a century after Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) had posited his '''heliocentric cosmology''' in 1543, and forty years after Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) had published his observations with the telescope in 1610. Both were strong challenges to Aristotelianism. [[CiteRef::Westfall (1980)|p. 6]] Like many ambitious students of the time, Locke doubted Aristotelian scholasticism and sought resources outside the formal curriculum. He became involved with a discussion group centered on John Wilkins (1614-1672) which became In the nucleus of what was to be the '''Royal Society''' of England. There he Wilkins group, Locke was exposed to the '''experimental philosophy''' and the ideas of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) who argued for an '''inductive methodology''' for science.Many Wilkins associates were interested in pursuing medicine by observation rather than reading classic texts. The Wilkins group was the nucleus of what would later become the '''Royal Society''' of England, which became a formal institution in the 1660's. The society set itself in opposition to the Aristotelian scholasticism of the universities, advocating the study of nature rather than of ancient texts. [[CiteRef::Uzgalis (2016)|p. 4]]
Locke received his bachelor's degree in 1656. He was elected a senior student of Christ Church College and decided to study medicine. John Wilkins left Oxford after the restoration of King Charles II, and the new leader of the Oxford scientific group was Robert Boyle (1627-1691)who was noted for his application of experimental methods in physics and became Locke's scientific tutor.
Following graduation, Locke decided to become a doctor and obtained a senior studentship to study medicine and chemistry. remained at Oxford as a senior student, studying medicine and chemistry, where he became acquainted with Robert Boyle [[CiteRef::Uzgalis (2016)|p. 5]] and ascribed to his Corpuscular Theory, which stated that the natural world was composed of small, invisible pieces of matter called corpuscles. To Locke, this was simpler and more appealing than Scholasticism. [[CiteRef::Uzgalis (2016)|p. 6]] While writing ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'', Locke traveled to France, where met Descartes, and was impressed by his anti-Scholasticism philosophy, Cartesian rationalism. [[CiteRef::Uzgalis (2016)|p. 5]] The empiricism Locke presents in ''Essay'', is considered to be a response to both Scholasticism and Cartesian rationalism, especially as a rejection of the latter.
