Who Is John Locke?

Well on Lost we know that Jeremy Bentham is John Locke and most of the fans know that the real John Locke was a prominent English philosopher, who was known to develop the fundamentals of liberalism. But who is Jeremy Bentham? Well I'll share what I've found on Mr. Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham (15 February 1748–6 June 1832) was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He was a political radical, and a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law. He was a child prodigy and was found as a toddler sitting at his father's desk reading a multi-volume history of England and began his study of Latin at the age of three. He was best known for his advocacy of utilitarianism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome - the ends justify the means. Utilitarianism argued that the "right" action or policy was that which would cause "the greatest happiness of the greatest number". His critics objected saying that it would therefore "...be acceptable to torture one person if this would produce an amount of happiness in other people outweighing the unhappiness of the tortured individual." Bentham was also known for his outspoken opposition to the French revolutionary discourse of natural rights, an idea championed by philosopher John Locke, whose father, also named John Locke, worked for Jeremy Bentham. (hmmmm...Interesting) He also suggested a procedure for estimating the moral status of any action. His principle regards "good" as that which produces the greatest amount of physical or spiritual pleasure, and the minimum amount of pain; and "evil" as that which produces the most pain without the pleasure. Bentham also argued that the ability to suffer, not the ability to reason, must be the benchmark of how we treat other beings. Bentham was an outspoken critic of the violence which arose after a group called "The Jacobins"seized power in a coup after the fall of the French monarchy—on September 21, 1792. Originated as the "Club Bentham", "The Jacobin Club" was the largest and most powerful political club of the French Revolution. It was led by Maximillian Robespierre, self-styled as "the Incorruptible", he was a disciple of philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As such, his political views were rooted in Rousseau's notion of the social contract, which promoted "the rights of man" (however, Robespierre's version was of collective rights, rather than individual rights). Any club member who by word or action showed that his principles were contrary to the constitution and 'the rights of man' was to be expelled, a rule which later on facilitated the "purification" of French society by the expulsion of its more moderate elements—this became known as the "Reign of Terror". Robespierre described it thus: "Terror is nothing other than prompt, severe, inflexible justice." Later, Robespierre (leader of The Jacobins) had a decree passed that established the "Cult of the Supreme Being". The notion of the Supreme Being was based on ideas that Jean-Jacques Rousseau had outlined in "The Social Contract". Robespierre made it clear that his concept of a Supreme Being was far different from the traditional God of Christianity. Robespierre's Supreme Being was a radical democrat, like the Jacobins. He explained: "Is it not He whose immortal hand, engraving on the heart of man the code of justice and equality, has written there the death sentence of tyrants? Is it not He who, from the beginning of time, decreed for all the ages and for all peoples liberty, good faith, and justice? He did not create kings to devour the human race. He did not create priests to harness us, like vile animals, to the chariots of kings and to give to the world examples of baseness, pride, perfidy, avarice, debauchery, and falsehood. He created the universe to proclaim His power. He created men to help each other, to love each other mutually, and to attain to happiness by the way of virtue."

This is an interesting article and I find that it's a bit on the nose. Jeremy Bentham and John Locke on Lost obviously have alot in common as does the real John Locke. An interesting note about the real John Locke.

John Locke, the philosopher, met prominent English politician, Anthony Cooper, in 1666 at Oxford. Locke persuaded Cooper to undergo an operation for his liver infection that saved his life. In LOST, Anthony Cooper comes to Locke with a kidney problem and Locke donates his own kidney to save his life.

Locke is unique in that he has had at least one significant life experience in common with virtually every key plane crash survivor or island inhabitant.

• Jack: lost their true loves because of their failure to let go of their obsessive behaviors.
• Kate: planned and ultimately responsible for the deaths of their fathers
• Sawyer: had their lives severely damaged by Anthony Cooper ("The Brig")
• Hurley: abandoned by fathers; both of them are "special"; worked a series of dead end jobs, ironically Locke is ultimately employed by a company Hurley owns
• Sayid: when forced to question their loyalties (Sayid, to the Republican Guard, Locke to the commune), commit betrayals
• Charlie: got rid of their demons on the island
• Jin: embarassed about their parentage, unwanted by their mothers
• Sun: manipulated by their fathers
• Claire: abandoned by fathers who wanted no part in raising them; their fathers appear on the island
• Shannon: denied their fair share of their fathers' wealth
• Boone: conned by a relative
• Michael: injured in an accident requiring a lengthy period of rehab
• Walt: singled out in childhood as "special" by the Others
• Rose: healed by the island
• Bernard: unable to establish lasting relationships deep into their lives
• Nikki: plans somone's death, but manipulates someone else into carrying it out
• Paulo: frequently smokes cigarettes but quits at the behest of his girlfriend
• Eko: had lengthy encounters with the smoke monster; involved with illegal drug trade
• Ana Lucia: required psychological counseling to deal with their anger issues
• Desmond: brought to the island against their will to fulfill a specific destiny
• Ben: born prematurely to a mother named Emily, but not raised by their mothers; Both have been chosen by the Island to protect it; Richard visits them both at a very young age; Both of them are special; Both planned the death of their fathers; Both have been/are leaders to The Others
• Juliet: actively recruited under false pretenses by Richard Alpert for Mittelos to do work in "Portland"

So there's some info you may or may not have known about one of my favorite chatacters. If you have some fun facts about Mr. Locke (real or Lost) leave a comment.

Also let me know who your favorite characters are and why!