1632–1704
John Locke
Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises of Government both appeared in 1689, as did A Letter Concerning Toleration. He argues that the materials of knowledge come from experience, while also defending a natural right to life, liberty, and property that political power may not simply absorb. His account of personal identity through consciousness later became a standard reference for puzzles about what makes a person the same over time.
Also in the atlas
- The origin of ideas
- Personal identity
- Limited government
Reading, not a syllabus ranking
- An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) — Experience as the source of ideas, and the limits of knowledge.
- Two Treatises of Government (1689) — Consent, rights, and the limits of political power.
Questions for reflection
- If identity follows consciousness, what happens when memory fails?
- Which powers may a community exercise over a member who never consented to this particular law?
Locke supports the empiricist and individual-priority poles only as a historical neighbor. His theory of rights is not Mill’s utilitarianism.