Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
32nd out of 465 books
—
436 voters
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
by
John Locke
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Pomona Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
January 1st 2007
by Pomona Press
(first published 1690)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
John Locke has some of the best reasons why we should not believe in innate ideas, and from this, why we should not be in agreement with the Rationalists. However, this begs the question "How can we trust ideas based on experience?"
Instead of bogging down his argument, I find that his trust in human experience to be refreshing. We cannot live our lives sitting in a room thinking about the random crap in the world -- we have to get out there and live it!
This particular edition was a different one...more
Instead of bogging down his argument, I find that his trust in human experience to be refreshing. We cannot live our lives sitting in a room thinking about the random crap in the world -- we have to get out there and live it!
This particular edition was a different one...more
The Essay Concerning Human Understanding is sectioned into four books. Taken together, they comprise an extremely long and detailed theory of knowledge starting from the very basics and building up. Book I, "Of Innate Ideas," is an attack on the Cartesian view of knowledge, which holds that human beings are born with certain ideas already in their mind. "Of Innate Ideas" begins with an argument against the possibility of innate propositional knowledge (that is, innate knowledge of fact, such as...more
Reading this again, under less purposive circumstances, I'm struck by how well it works as a work of prose, with delerious, rushed passages and moments of stillness and clarity, things Locke wants to say but steps back from (i.e. the possibility that matter can think), and funny, self-deprecating lines like "as the chief End of Language in Communication [is] to be understood, Words serve not well for that end." Great.
I don't know if I just wasn't in the right mindset when reading this or what but I think this book could have been condensed to perhaps a third of its current size? The redundancy was astounding and the word choice so flowery for something that was not only not poetry but not even pleasant to the reader. I just felt like the style and flow of the book was very circular in kind of a spiral factor sort of way. What he had to say on complex ideas was brilliant, and the way he approached the mind an...more
This is the second time I've read this book, sort of. The first time was at university. After 10 or 11 years I decied to return to it and see how much I'd forgotten (especially as I teach bits of Locke for A-level Philosophy). I slowly realised that after the first few chapters, the notes and annotations disappeared from my book, indicating that I'd never finished it. After a couple of days of reading this, I realised why. Yes, it is one of the most important documents in Philosophical history....more
2 likes · like · see review
Aug 08, 2011
Erik Graff
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
philosophy fans
Recommended to Erik by:
university professor
Shelves:
philosophy
Some of this book was assigned for the History of Classical Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago during the first semester of 1980/81, but I read all of it, albeit quickly at times.
Like Hume, Locke is a relatively easy philosopher for modern Anglo-Americans, their thought being so substantially constituative of contemporary prejudice, both in philosophy and in the natural sciences. He is not, however, as careful and precise--not as "acute" as Kant put it--as Hume was.
Although I did not do it...more
Like Hume, Locke is a relatively easy philosopher for modern Anglo-Americans, their thought being so substantially constituative of contemporary prejudice, both in philosophy and in the natural sciences. He is not, however, as careful and precise--not as "acute" as Kant put it--as Hume was.
Although I did not do it...more
This was one of the mammoth works I tackled after reading about Locke in Russell's book and hearing every enlightenment series start off with Locke and his contributions to politics as well as epistemological philosophy.
I read this for pleasure not school, and it was difficult but very rewarding. I used Locke to springboard into the study of human knowledge and he is probably the best place to start in trying to understand just what we think we know and how we could know it.
This might be a long...more
I read this for pleasure not school, and it was difficult but very rewarding. I used Locke to springboard into the study of human knowledge and he is probably the best place to start in trying to understand just what we think we know and how we could know it.
This might be a long...more
Si bien d'autre m'ont été agréable et instructifs, Voila le livre de philosophie qui m'aura été le plus profitable de tous ceux qui me sont tombés dans les mains. L'essai philosophique sur l'entendement humain, écrit par John Locke en 1655 est une petite merveille, et réussit haut la main son pari d'apporter de la lumière sur la question. L'auteur écrit dans un style clair, très accessible et hors de toute affectation, mais sans céder aucun pouce aux exigences de clarté et de rigueur. Pour autan...more
"I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts." I.iii.3.
"It is therefore little less than a contradiction, to suppose, that whole nations of men should both in their professions, and practice unanimously and universally give the lie to what, by the most invincible evidence, every one of them knew to be true, right, and good." I.iii.11
"If it shall be demanded then, when a man begins to have any ideas? I think, the true answer is, when he first has any sensation...more
"It is therefore little less than a contradiction, to suppose, that whole nations of men should both in their professions, and practice unanimously and universally give the lie to what, by the most invincible evidence, every one of them knew to be true, right, and good." I.iii.11
"If it shall be demanded then, when a man begins to have any ideas? I think, the true answer is, when he first has any sensation...more
Apr 23, 2008
Tyler
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
_People interested in philosophy, but scared of it
Shelves:
philosophy
John Locke's readable discourse on empiricism, which we might think of now as inductive reasoning from contingent facts, covers a broad scope and gives readers a taste of the Enlightenment in its full flower.
Written before philosophy became too specialized for everyday discourse, this book serves as an excellent starting point anyone wanting to venture into philosophy. John Locke's easy writing style stands in contrast to his formidable reputation, and within these pages he pulls together his d...more
Written before philosophy became too specialized for everyday discourse, this book serves as an excellent starting point anyone wanting to venture into philosophy. John Locke's easy writing style stands in contrast to his formidable reputation, and within these pages he pulls together his d...more
What an amazing book. I absolutely refuse to write a review now, having only paid cursory attention to the majority of the book (I gave great attention to the arguments against innate ideas and on Locke's concept of substance). I will reread this book over the summer, give it the attention it needs, and write a review then.
Dec 09, 2011
Cat
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Cat by:
my professor
Shelves:
projects,
read-in-greek
GAH!
Okay, I like philosophy, but everything has limits!
I had to read this book for an assignment I have, and well, it was...weird?
John Locke kept on saying something and after some pages going all against to what he previously said.
His opinions?
I don't know if I agree, I was too absorbed trying to make sense of what he was actually saying.
And I had to keep notes, so yeah...
I haven't really read the last pages, but I will go through them quickly for my project when I'll be on the library. Because...more
Okay, I like philosophy, but everything has limits!
I had to read this book for an assignment I have, and well, it was...weird?
John Locke kept on saying something and after some pages going all against to what he previously said.
His opinions?
I don't know if I agree, I was too absorbed trying to make sense of what he was actually saying.
And I had to keep notes, so yeah...
I haven't really read the last pages, but I will go through them quickly for my project when I'll be on the library. Because...more
I have a hard time buying a lot of what Locke is selling, largely because he writes off so many of the questions I have as not being relevant to his theory. Epistemology makes sense to a certain point, but I think the idea of the tabula rasa is too much for me to fully wrap my head around or endorse. That being said, he has some really interesting ideas about perceptions and how we use language, all of which made this unit of my Modern Philosophy - Descartes to Kant course bearable.
Locke presents a theory of knowledge that originates from a 'tabula rasa', a blank slate, and includes the analysis that features of perception such as colors are actually in the mind of the perceiver, not in the outer object.
really enjoyed the different perspectives of the philosophers of this time. He supposed the mind was like "white paper" and composed dissertation on the idea of what the soul is.
Like Montagine, it's the project of an intelligent man trying to understand things. Much overlooked work as the ideas are a huge break with the past.
Jul 10, 2012
Brittany Petruzzi
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
philosophy,
non-fiction
Locke's understanding of human understanding accounts for much of what is wrong with our society today. Yuck.
Not an easy read, but the ideas contained here still have a weight. Locke was truly a genius.
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke (1996)
While this book may seem a bit outdated on the account of the contemporary findings on neuroscience, research methods, etc, it provides nevertheless a comprehensive account of human understanding.
And it can get repetitive at times.
And it can get repetitive at times.
This is where America as an experiment in self governance began.
This book was a big part of my philosophical career...
Feb 07, 2013
Keaton
marked it as purposely-partially-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
philosophy,
non-fiction
Read: Excerpts from Book 2, "Of Ideas"
A tad too long, but enjoyable so far
Locke is a nice read.
The confused man's Hobbes.
May 23, 2012
Shelley
added it
love this book
None
If you have any mind for philosophy and live in the western hemisphere, this is practically required reading. Modern American thought (and by influence, the mindset of the entire western world) is founded on the work of John Locke and his contemporaries.
I get the sense from reading this that John Locke would be someone I would enjoy hanging out with. His pragmatic approach is refreshing in the world of philosophy, and his argumentative style beats you over the head with its sensibility again and again. I find it fascinating to see how much our institutions built on the thoughts espoused here. Locke comes across as an incredible orator as well, though I haven't heard the urban legends of that aspect of our "founding father".
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
John Locke was an English philosopher. Locke is considered the first of the British Empiricists, but is equally important to social contract theory. His ideas had enormous influence on the development of epistemology and political philosophy, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenmen...more
More about John Locke...
John Locke was an English philosopher. Locke is considered the first of the British Empiricists, but is equally important to social contract theory. His ideas had enormous influence on the development of epistemology and political philosophy, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenmen...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“The acts of the mind, wherein it exerts its power over simple ideas, are chiefly these three: 1. Combining several simple ideas into one compound one, and thus all complex ideas are made. 2. The second is bringing two ideas, whether simple or complex, together, and setting them by one another so as to take a view of them at once, without uniting them into one, by which it gets all its ideas of relations. 3. The third is separating them from all other ideas that accompany them in their real existence: this is called abstraction, and thus all its general ideas are made.”
—
6 people liked it
“He that will not set himself proudly at the top of all things, but will consider the immensity of this fabric, and the great variety that is to be found in this little and inconsiderable part of it which he has to do with, may be apt to think that, in other mansions of it, there may be other and different intelligent beings, of whose faculties he has as little knowledge or apprehension as a worm shut up in one drawer of a cabinet hath of the senses or understanding of a man; such variety and excellency being suitable to the wisdom and power of the Maker. -- 1690”
—
6 people liked it
More quotes…
Aug 18, 2012 10:58pm