John Locke is widely acknowledged as the most important figure in the history of English philosophy and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is his greatest intellectual work, emphasising the importance of experience for the formation of knowledge. The Routledge Guidebook to Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding introduces the major themes of Locke’s great book and serves as a companion to this key work, examining: The context of Locke’s work and the background to his writing Each part of the text in relation to its goals, meaning and impact The reception of the book when it was first seen by the world The relevance of Locke’s work to philosophy today, its legacy and influence With further reading suggested throughout, this text follows Locke’s original work closely, making it essential reading for all students of philosophy, and all those wishing to get to grips with this classic work.

The Routledge Guidebook to Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding introduces the major themes in Locke's great book and acts as a companion for reading this key work.

John Locke is the most important figure in the history of English philosophy. In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, his greatest intellectual achievement, he emphasised the importance of experience for knowledge and the critical role of the philosopher. Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Locke on Human Understanding introduces and assesses:* Locke's life and the background to the Essay on Human Understanding* The text and ideas of the Essay* The continuing importance of Locke's work to philosophyIdeal for anyone coming to Locke for the first time, this guide will be vital for all students.

John Locke (1632-1704) was one of the towering philosophers of the Enlightenment and arguably the greatest English philosopher. Many assumptions we now take for granted, about liberty, knowledge and government, come from Locke and his most influential works, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises of Government. In this superb introduction to Locke's thought, E.J. Lowe covers all the major aspects of his philosophy. Whilst sensitive to the seventeenth-century background to Locke's thought, he concentrates on introducing and assessing Locke in a contemporary philosophical setting, explaining why he is so important today. Beginning with a helpful overview of Locke's life and times, he explains how Locke challenged the idea that the human mind and knowledge of the external world rested on innate principles, laying the philosophical foundations of empiricism later taken up by Berkeley and Hume. Subsequent chapters introduce and critically assess topics fundamental to understanding Locke: his theories of substance and identity, language and meaning, philosophy of action and free will, and political freedom and toleration. In doing so, he explains some of the more complex yet pivotal aspects of Locke's thought, such as his theory that language rests on ideas and how Locke's theory of personal identity paved the way for modern empirical psychology. A final chapter assesses Locke's legacy, and the book includes a helpful chronology of Locke's life and glossary of unfamiliar terms.

Lowe's approach is geared to the reader who wants to know more about John Locke and his work. Lowe's work will fully complement the reader's first encounter with the Essay Concerning Human Understanding. The reader will not only glean a comprehensive sense of the work's intricacies, arguments, and themes, but also a sense of Locke's life and the Essay's relation to Locke's other major works.

Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Locke on Human Understanding introduces John Locke and his major work, ^Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Locke's Essay remains a key work in a number of fields of philosophy, notably in epistemology, metaphysics and the philosophies of mind and language. It is also a key book in courses on modern philosophy where Locke is often studied (often controversially) as the first of the British Empiricists. Knowledge of the text is vital for any student of philosophy. Jonathon Lowe's approach enables students to effectively study Locke's Essay. Locke's life and works are placed in their intellectual context to help the student understand the importance of the Essaying his time. He then provides a critical examination of the leading themes in the Essay drawing out the main lines of Locke's thinking: innate ideas, perception, primary and secondary qualities, substance, personal identity, free will and action, and language. He is able to consider recent important work on Locke and show this great English philosophers continuing importance in modern philosophical thought. Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Locke on Human Understanding is ideal for students studying Locke for the first time and providing essential background for the many areas of philosophy in which the Essay has proved to be so influential. Locke's important work in political philosophy will be considered in a separate GuideBook, Locke on Government.