John Locke ( 1632 –  1704), known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician. His writings on the theory of social contract influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, and the American revolutionaries. His ideas are mentioned in the American Declaration of Independence.

Locke's theories were usually about identity and the self. Locke thought that we are born without thoughts, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience (empiricism).

He believed that people have natural rights, which they are born with. These rights are life, liberty, and property and they cannot be taken.The goal of the government is to protect natural rights. If it fails, then the people have the right to overthrow it (social contract)