An essay concerning human understanding

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Title:

Author:

Locke, John, 1632-1704.

ISBN:

9780199296620

Personal Author:

Locke, John, 1632-1704.

Publication Information:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.

Physical Description:

lvi, 520 p. ; 20 cm.

Series:

Oxford world's classics

Oxford world's classics (Oxford University Press)

General Note:

Formerly CIP.

Contents:

Locke's Life and Writing -- The Essay concerning Human Understanding -- Books I and II: Ideas and Principles -- Book III: Language and Abstraction -- Book IV: Knowledge -- Reception and Legacy -- A Chronology of John Locke -- An Essay Concerning Human Understanding -- Appendix. Extracts from Locke's Letters to Edward Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester.

Abstract:

"In An Essay concerning Human Understanding, John Locke sets out his theory of knowledge and how we acquire it. Eschewing doctrines of innate principles and ideas, Locke shows how all our ideas, even the most abstract and complex, are grounded in human experience and attained by sensation of external things or reflection upon our own mental activities. A thorough examination of the communication of ideas through language and the conventions of taking words as signs of ideas paves the way for his penetrating critique of the limitations of ideas and the extent of our knowledge of ourselves, the world, God, and morals."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject Term:

Knowledge, Theory of.

Added Author:

Phemister, Pauline.

Electronic Access:

Table of contents only http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0818/2008021774.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168023697424	121 L814E 2008	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

'I must apply my self to Experience; as far as that reaches, I may have certain Knowledge, but no farther.'In An Essay concerning Human Understanding, John Locke sets out his theory of knowledge and how we acquire it. Eschewing doctrines of innate principles and ideas, Locke shows how all our ideas, even the most abstract and complex, are grounded in human experience and attained by sensation of external things or reflection upon our own mental activities. A thorough examination of the communication of ideas through language and the conventions of taking words as signs of ideas paves the way for his penetrating critique of the limitations of ideas and the extent of our knowledge of ourselves, the world, God, and morals.Locke's masterpiece laid the foundation of British empiricism and is of enduring interest to anyone exploring the development of philosophical thought. This sensitive abridgement uses P. H. Nidditch's authoritative text, and together with an illuminating introduction and other features, makes Locke's arguments more accessible.