John Locke

1632-1704 · English · Epistemology, Philosophy of Religion, Political Philosophy, Moral Philosophy

The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.

When John Locke published his Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises of Government in 1689, he did so anonymously — just returned from Dutch exile after helping plot against a Stuart regime moving toward absolutism. His patron, Shaftesbury, had led parliamentary resistance and died a fugitive. Those years abroad were spent finishing two of the most consequential books in English.

Topics John Locke addresses

• the polemic against innate ideas and innate principles
• sensation and reflection
• simple and complex ideas
• primary and secondary qualities
• real essence and nominal essence
• substance as something I know not what
• power, active and passive
• the will and uneasiness
• consciousness and personal identity
• the man / person distinction
• the forensic person
• knowledge as perception of agreement of ideas
• intuitive, demonstrative, and sensitive knowledge
• thinking matter
• faith and reason
• enthusiasm
• the demonstrability of morality
• the law of nature
• workmanship of the Maker
• the state of nature
• equality and natural freedom
• property and the labor theory
• the spoilage limit
• enough and as good

Converse with John Locke on Symposium. Every reply is grounded in John Locke's own writing and cites the page it came from. The corpus is public-domain text.