Books

London: by Eliz. Holt, for Thomas Basset,, 1690. One of the principal sources of empiricism in modern philosophy First edition, first issue, with the Holt imprint. Locke worked for nearly two decades on his investigation of "the certainty and the adequacy of human knowledge" (PMM), and the resulting landmark work influenced many Enlightenment philosophers. Locke argued that all our knowledge comes from experience and through our senses, rather than innate ideas. The mind is at birth a clean sheet, a tabula rasa; since only material things can affect our sense, we can know nothing but matter and must accept a materialistic philosophy. Locke concluded that "though knowledge must necessarily fall short of complete comprehension, it can at least be 'sufficient'; enough to convince us that we are not at the mercy of pure chance, and can to some extent control our own destiny" (ODNB). Locke's Essay quickly ran to several editions and was popularized on the continent through French…

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1690.