<P> John Locke FRS ( / lɒk / ; 29 August 1632 -- 28 October 1704 ) was an English philosopher and physician , widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the `` Father of Liberalism '' . Considered one of the first of the British empiricists , following the tradition of Sir Francis Bacon , he is equally important to social contract theory . His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy . His writings influenced Voltaire and Jean - Jacques Rousseau , many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers , as well as the American revolutionaries . His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence . </P>
the person whose political philosophy laid the foundation for the declaration of independence was
John Locke