Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Key facts

full title  ·  An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

author  ·  John Locke

philosophical movement  ·  British Empiricism

language  ·  English

time and place written  ·  Locke began the Essay in London sometime around 1671. He spent 18 years writing it, in England, France, and in Holland while in exile. He completed the first edition in London in 1689. Locke revised the work throughout his life, with the fifth edition published posthumously.

date of first publication  ·  December, 1689

publisher  ·  ???????????

speaker  ·  John Locke

areas of philosophy covered  ·  The book is primarily concerned with issues in *epistemology* and *metaphysics*, though the third book is about the philosophy of language. Issues in moral philosophy, philosophy of logic, and philosophy of religion also find their way into the discussions.

philosophical movements opposed  ·  Locke's primary targets in the Essay are the Cartesian *rationalists*, the Aristotelian *Scholastics*, and the newly fashionable skepticism of the late 17th century.

other books by locke on the similar topics  ·  This is Locke's only work on epistemology and metaphysics.

philosophers influenced by the  ·  The other British Empiricists, namely George Berkeley, Thomas Reid, and David Hume, all built on Locke's foundations. Immanuel Kant, who attempted to reconcile empiricism and rationalism in the late 18th century, also used many of Locke's ideas as a basis for his own.

other famous works by locke  ·  Locke's two most famous books are the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and the Two Treatises on Government.