lost Is John Locke's character based on a true person?

cosa_nostra posted on Feb 05, 2008 at 10:43PM
i have been studying philosophy lately and was looking into the idea of empiricism when i (by chance) came across a famous philosopher named John Locke.

The philosphers' characteristics and views were very similar to that of the fictional character Locke.

There was mention of "Tabula Rosa" which means "clean slate". Also the philosophers connection with past experiences, etc.

I cant remember in which season it was, but there was an episode called "Tabula rosa" as i recall.

It may have been a coincidence, however i cant help but feel there is a significant connection.

Also if there is, does this mean that all the characters in lost are based on real people from different schools of thought?

Heres a link link

Do let us know if you've come across anything similar...

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over a year ago PkmnTrainerJ said…
Rosseau and Desmond are also named after philosophers, though I don't know if their view sync up with their characters
over a year ago blisslikethis said…
wasn't there already a forum post about this? there are multiple Lost characters named after famous philosophers, most notably John Locke, Rousseau (named for Jean Jacques Rousseau), Desmond (David Hume), and Mikhail (Mikhail Bakunin).

the characters are all similar in some ways to their philosophical counterparts, but Locke is more than the others. interestingly, Locke's father on Lost is named Anthony Cooper. in real life, politician Anthony Cooper was philosopher John Locke's mentor.

also, it's "tabula rasa", not "rosa"
last edited over a year ago
over a year ago BuffySummers17 said…
I had the same thing happen to me.