An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is one of John Locke's two most famous works, the other being his Second Treatise on Civil Government. First appearing in 1689, the essay concerns the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. He describes the mind at birth as a blank slate (tabula rasa), filled later through experience. The essay was one of the principal sources of empiricism in modern philosophy, and influenced many enlightenment philosophers, such as David Hume and Bishop Berkeley. Immanuel Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' was mainly concieved as response to and repudiation of Locke's philosophy. John Locke (August 29, 1632 – October 28, 1704) was an influential English philosopher and social contract theorist. ... Second treatise on civil government was written by John Locke. ... Events Louis XIV of France passed the Code Noir, allowing the full use of slaves in the French colonies. ... Tabula rasa (Latin: scraped tablet, though often translated blank slate) is the notion that individual human beings are born blank (with no built-in mental content), and that their identity is defined entirely by events after birth. ... Look up Experience in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article discusses the general concept of experience. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... David Hume (April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776)[1] was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian who was one of the most important figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. ... This article or section is incomplete and may require cleanup and/or expansion. ...

Locke drafted the Essay over a period of about 18 years. In the "Epistle to the Reader," Locke writes that the germ of the essay sprung from a conversation with friends. At a point where this discourse seemed stuck, Locke remarked that it could not proceed without a close examination of "our own abilities and...what objects our understandings were, or were not, fitted to deal with." This conversation occurred around 1671, and in that year Locke formulated two drafts of the Essay. He would continue to work on it for nearly two decades, clarifying and expanding his basic position. Though dated 1690, the book actually first appeared in 1689. Events May 9 - Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. ... Events Giovanni Domenico Cassini observes differential rotation within Jupiters atmosphere. ...

Book II of the Essay sets out Locke's theory of ideas, including his distinction between passively acquired simple ideas, such as "red," "sweet," "round," etc., and actively built complex ideas, such as numbers, causes and effects, abstract ideas, ideas of substances, identity, and diversity. Locke also distinguishes between the truly existing primary qualities of bodies, like shape, motion and the arrangement of minute particles, and the secondary qualities that are "powers to produce various sensations in us" such as "red" and "sweet." These secondary qualities, Locke claims, are dependent on the primary qualities. He also offers a theory of personal identity, offering a largely psychological criterion. Book III is concerned with language, and Book IV with knowledge, including intuition, mathematics, moral philosophy, natural philosophy ("science"), faith, and opinion. In philosophy, the issue of personal identity concerns the conditions under which a person at one time is the same person at another time. ... Intuition has many but close meanings across many cultures, including: Quick and ready insight seemingly independent of previous experiences and empirical knowledge Immediate apprehension or cognition Knowledge or conviction gained immediately and without detailed consideration The power or faculty of attaining knowledge or cognition immediately without thought and inference. ... Euclid, detail from The School of Athens by Raphael. ... Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ... Natural philosophy is a term applied to the objective study of nature and the physical universe before the development of modern science. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... The word faith has various uses; its central meaning is similar to belief, trust or confidence, but unlike these terms, faith tends to imply a transpersonal rather than interpersonal relationship – with God or a higher power. ... Look up Opinion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary An opinion is a persons ideas and thoughts towards something. ...

Ideas

Locke's main thesis is that the mind of a newborn is a blank slate and that all ideas are developed from experience. Book I of the Essay is devoted to an attack on the doctrine of innate ideas. Locke allowed that some ideas are in the mind from an early age, but argued that such ideas are furnished by the senses starting at birth: for instance, differences between colors or tastes. If we have a universal understanding of a concept like sweetness, it is not because this is an innate idea, but because we are all exposed to sweet tastes at an early age.

Along these lines, Locke also argued that people have no innate principles. Locke contended that innate principles would rely upon innate ideas, which do not exist. For instance, we cannot have an innate sense that God should be worshipped, when we cannot even agree on a conception of God or whether God exists at all. One of Locke's fundamental arguments against innate ideas is the very fact that there are no truths to which all people attest. He takes the time to argue against a number of propositions that rationalists offer as universally accepted truths, for instance the principle of identity, pointing out that at the very least children and idiots are often unaware of these propositions. // Computer programming In object-oriented programming, object identity is a mechanism for distinguishing different objects from each other. ...

Whereas Book I is intended to reject the doctrine of innate ideas proposed by Descartes and the rationalists, Book II explains that every idea is derived from experience either by sensation – direct sensory information – or reflection – mental construction. René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... In psychology, sensation is the first stage in the chain of biochemical and neurologic events that begins with the impinging of a stimulus upon the receptor cells of a sensory organ, which then leads to perception, the mental state that is reflected in statements like I see a uniformly blue... The Thinker by Auguste Rodin: An artists impression of Homo sapiens Human self-reflection is the basis of philosophy and is present from the earliest historical records. ...

Language

The close of Book II suggests that Locke discovered a close relationship between words and ideas that prompted him to include a book on language before moving on to discuss knowledge. Book III addresses definitions, names, and the imperfections and abuses of verbal communication. According to Locke's theory of language, the human mind does not have the capacity to grant a name to every single thing it sees, such as individual crows or grains of sand. Man therefore groups ideas into 'general terms', based on the distinguishing features of each individual thing. All cows, for example, have the properties of 'eating grass', 'being milked' etc, and are therefore processed as one large group. When an object or idea has a personal connection to an individual, only then does the need arise for particular names. Hence - to put it crudely - when a specific cow is important to a person, it is brought out of the realm of general ideas, and given a proper name, such as 'Daisy'.

Knowledge

For Locke, knowledge was the perception of the relation between the agreement or disagreement of ideas.

Book IV is devoted to a discussion of knowledge.

Reaction, response, and influence

Locke's empiricist viewpoint was sharply criticized by rationalists. In 1704 Gottfried Leibniz wrote a rationalist response to Locke's work in the form of a chapter-by-chapter rebuttal, the Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain ("New Essays on Human Understanding"). At the same time, Locke's work provided crucial groundwork for the work of future empiricists like David Hume. Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. ... Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (also von Leibni(t)z) (July 1 (June 21 Old Style) 1646, Leipzig – November 14, 1716, Hanover) was a German polymath, deemed a genius in his day and since. ... Nouveaux essais sur lentendement humain (New Essays on Human Understanding) was a chapter-by-chapter rebuttal by Gottfried Leibniz of the John Locke book Essays on Human Understanding. ... David Hume (April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776)[1] was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian who was one of the most important figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. ...

References

• Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Macmillan, 1967. s.v. "Locke, John".

See also

• Two Treatises of Government

The Two Treatises of Government (or Two Treatises of Government: In the Former, The False Principles and Foundation of Sir Robert Filmer, And His Followers, are Detected and Overthrown. ...

External link

• John Locke at Project Gutenberg, including the Essay.