Which elements of the work of John Locke do you think are most Essay

Which elements of the work of John Locke do you think are most important to the law relating to human rights today, and why - Essay Example He is considered as one of the very first English empiricists. His role in the development of the social contract theory still stands out as one of his best contributions. It is noted that his works heavily affected the epistemological and political philosophy development. It is also claimed that his works heavily impacted on the development of Rousseau and Voltaire (Rousseau, S, Nervous Acts: Essays on Literature, Culture and Sensibility. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004). The theory of mind by john Locke is often cited as the genesis of modern conceptions of identity and the self. It is Locke who was the first person to define the self in regards to a continuity of consciousness. On the basis of this assertion, John Locke was focusing his attention on the need to observe individual worthiness as opposed to group importance. As it will emerge later in this paper, the major basis of the human rights standing is in regard to individual valuation (Asharvin R, Revolutionary Politics & Lockes Two Treatises of Government, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986). The works of John Locke have pointed out important aspects of religion. In his letters relating to tolerance following the European religious wars, John Locke came up with a classic reasoning. He fronted three arguments that sought to redress the situation. He posed that earthly judges, the state, and human beings cannot fully evaluate truth claims of religious standpoints that were in competition. He followed this by saying that even if they could be in a position to do so; the enforcement of a single religion could equally fail to achieve the desired goals on the belief that violence is never an option in enforcing of rules. He further revealed that coercion to achieve uniformity would lead to further social disorder hence the need to settle for diversity (Ayers, R., Locke, Epistemology & Ontology, Routledge, 1991). As the above case points, the