Here is a presentation on John Locke's Empiricism- Liberalism and how His ideas are present in William Rose Wallace's poem The liberty Bell

1. Philosophy for Literature (EN
1431)
Module 2
Enlightenment and After
John Locke—Liberalism— Empiricism—William Ross Wallace ―The Liberty Bell

2. John Locke (1632- 1704)
 John Locke was a British philosopher, Oxford academic and medical
researcher.
 He was one of the most influential thinkers in the Age of Enlightenment.
 His works laid the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and
political liberalism.
 He was an inspirer of both the European Enlightenment and the
Constitution of the United States
 Locke's first major published work was A Letter Concerning Toleration
 But he is best known for two works, An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding and Two Treatises of Government.

3. Theory of Empiricism
 John Locke argued that knowledge is demonstrably acquired only
through sensory experience, but that our sensory experience is not
infallible.
 In 1689 work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke
argues that, at birth, the mind is a tabula rasa (a blank slate) that we fill
with ‘ideas’ as we experience the world through the five senses.
 An idea is anything you experience or reflect on — and Locke’s key
point is we can only get such ‘ideas’ from the senses.
 To Locke, Our minds cannot create ideas, they can only combine them.

4. Theory of Empiricism
 Ideas are thus atomic in nature, and can form complex, unique
structures: but the constituent parts are all ultimately obtained from
sensory experience.
 For example, you may be able to imagine, a new animal. But that new
imagined animal could only be made up of parts you've previously
encountered through your sensory experience.
 It might have the horns of a bull, the trunk of an elephant… it might
have a heart with 97 chambers. But it couldn't contain any ‘ideas’ you
hadn't previously acquired through sensory experience.

5. Theory of Empiricism
 This understanding of the world is known as empiricism
 Knowledge comes from experience, and so by analyzing our
experiences we will come to know the truth about reality, and nothing
should be asserted unless it can be confirmed by experience.
 Empiricism is totally against rationalist idea which argues that reason
is the chief source and test of knowledge, not experience.

6. Liberalism
 John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct tradition
 Locke argues that each man has a natural right to life, liberty and property and
governments must not violate these rights.
 People have natural rights simply by virtue of being human. such rights do not depend
on any social class, gender, race, or other contingent feature of the person.
 He views human beings as rational creatures who were entitled to think for themselves,
to direct their own actions, and to pursue their own happiness within the bounds of the
law of nature.
 Locke’s conception of human beings as rational creatures provided the basis not only
for individual rights but also for duties toward others.
 Reason required one to recognize that other individuals were entitled to the same rights
one claimed for oneself.

7. Liberalism
 Ideally, societal laws (Laws created by governments) will articulate and protect these
natural rights.
 Civil government can be created only by the consent of the governed, leading to a
commonwealth of laws.
 All government is therefore works based on trust: when that trust is betrayed,
government dissolves.
 Once government is dissolved, the people are free to erect a new one and to oppose
those who claim authority under the old one, that is, to revolt.
 John Locke's theory of natural rights was highly influential. For instance, his theory
was important in developing the United States Declaration of Independence, which
emphasized a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

8. “The Liberty Bell”
William Ross Wallace

9. Liberty Bell and Declaration of Independence
 The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in the history of the
United States.
 People in the American colonies were unhappy that they did not have a say in their government
and still had to pay taxes. In 1775, these colonists went to war with Great Britain.
 This war between the colonies and Great Britain was called the American Revolutionary War
(1775-1783)
 Declaration of Independence, was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and that
announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain.
 The Liberty bell was rung on July 8 to summon people to the first public reading of the
Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.
 Liberty Bell, is a large bell which stands a traditional symbol of U.S. freedom, commissioned in
1751 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly to hang in the new State House in Philadelphia

10. Summary
As the sound of the Liberty Bell reverberated like a sound of thunder through the mighty land of
America, the heart of the entire nation moved with patriotic feelings. The chime rung from the iron
tongue of the Bell awakened the citizens of Philadelphia from the fetters of fear, oppression, and
injustice. To the colonists, the sound came like a breath of flame as it was an official statement by the
colonists that they would no longer recognize the British rule. To the colonizers it came like a sound of
grief as they were unwilling to walk away without a fight. The fettered slaves and the brave freedom
fighters heard it upon the tall mountain and upon the tossed waves. It was heard by the poor and the
rich. The chime of the bell gave a glorious summons to the citizens of Philadelphia, inviting them to
hear the first reading of the Declaration of Independence. The sabre of independence struggle,
symbolising the bond of friendship, was sharpened to fight, for the last time against the colonizers.

11. Summary
The ranks of the colonists and the brave, symbolising the bond of brotherhood, swept along the tall
mountain and the tossed waves and a shout resembling the roar of waters went up to the sky. Just as
the wing of some Seraph flashed out from heaven, an unofficial American flag which arranged stars in
a circle unfurled, uttering freedom and hope to the world.
The magnificent fold of the glittering flag of azure and gold unrolled over the hill-top and tide. It
blazed in the valley. It blazed on the mast. It fluttered with its eagle and the eyes of all nations were
turned to its light. The heart of the multitude was swayed by its stars as they shone through the night,
like an ocean swayed by the moon.

12. Summary
The Bell thundered out through the midnight. The darkened lands of America were lightened up.
People ran out of their homes holding blazing torches and banners of liberty. A long- lasting cry leapt
from the earth to the sky, and from the sky to the earth, re-echoing a chorus "The People are Free" and
it echoed through all lands, mountains, sea, and sky.
The patriots who had lost their lives in the freedom struggle watched the glorious moment arid their
eyes blessed the people and their bond of brotherhood. Though long years have passed, every soul still
gets thrilled on hearing its wonderful sound because it speaks, in a glory-breathed tone, about the
mythical past. Long years shall roll over, and yet every chime shall go on telling of an era sublime,
more splendid and dearer than the rest of all time. Its voice will be heard, even after the flame on their
altars extinguishes. The Freeman will start to rekindle the fire, as he sees the stars and stripes of the
Flag of his heart.

13. Locke’s Liberal ideas in “The Liberty Bell”
The American revolutionary generation drew many of its ideas from the English Philosopher John Locke.
Often credited as a founder of modem 'liberal' thought, Locke pioneered the ideas of natural law, religious
toleration, and the right to revolution that proved essential to both the American Revolution and the U.S.
Constitution that followed. He had a direct impact on the American Revolution. He believed that people
are born free and equal with three natural rights Which were life, liberty, and property. Wallace's thoughts
on the Revolution for which he had a mythical reverence were in tune with the theories of John Locke, as
he treats the revolution in symbolic and grandiose terms. Locke argues that if a government fails to
protect the natural rights of its citizens, the people can dissolve the government and revolt against them.
Every revolution that happened in history is an example of this. The American revolution is not different.
In the poem the Liberty Bell, the poet asks the citizens to rekindle the fire of revolution whenever there is
injustice and oppression. The poem heavily relies on Locke’s ideas of liberty and revolution to
contextualize the American struggle for independence.

14. Thank You
Arya R Krishnan
Department of English
KSMDB College
Sasthamcotta