An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

John Locke

Summary

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.

He describes the mind at birth as a blank slate (tabula rasa, although he did not use those actual words) filled later through experience. The essay was one of the principal sources of empiricism in modern philosophy, and influenced many enlightenment philosophers, such as David Hume and George Berkeley.

Book I of the Essay is Locke's attempt to refute the rationalist notion of innate ideas. Book II sets out Locke's theory of ideas, including his distinction between passively acquired simple ideas—such as "red," "sweet," "round"—and actively built complex ideas, such as numbers, causes and effects, abstract ideas, ideas of substances, identity, and diversity.

Locke also distinguishes between the truly existing primary qualities of bodies, like shape, motion and the arrangement of minute particles, and the secondary qualities that are "powers to produce various sensations in us" such as "red" and "sweet." These secondary qualities, Locke claims, are dependent on the primary qualities. He also offers a theory of personal identity, offering a largely psychological criterion. Book III is concerned with language, and Book IV with knowledge, including intuition, mathematics, moral philosophy, natural philosophy ("science"), faith, and opinion.

Available since: 05/31/2022.

Other books that might interest you

Life in the UK Test 2025 - The...

GreatBrit Education

Are you looking for the perfect way to study for your upcoming Life in the UK Test in 2024 or 2025?  
Do you wish you could pass first time, and become a British Citizen?  
Maybe you just want to settle in the United Kingdom with "indefinite leave to remain"? 
Whatever your motivation is to stay in the UK - whether for love, work, or family - we get it.  
The problem you have is - the test is HARD.  
And many people fail first-time round. 
This comprehensive guide was created to guide you through passing the exam as fast & painlessly as possible. 
Inside our new Audiobook, here's just a taste of what you'll get:500+ Practice Questions & Answers - that you can listen to over & over again.Up-to-date content for 2024 & 2025 - including the new PM, Brexit updates, and more.Written by British Historians - With Expert Knowledge - Triple Checked for AccuracyAn award-winning British Narrator (listen to the audio sample to hear what he sounds like)This Audiobook has been completely re-written and re-narrated since the previous edition.Perfect for Spotify ListenersAnd much, much more. 
No matter whether you're from Bangladesh, Syria, Poland, Pakistan or anywhere else - this Audiobook is all you'll need to succeed.  
So, if you don't want to be become the next person to fail this challenging test...Then listen to our Official Audiobook now!

Show book

Unlimited Memory

Gerick Jones

Unlimited Memory: Learn the Most Effective Tips and Tricks on How to Improve Your Memory and Remember Names, Information and Many More! You were not born with a poor memory. Remembering is a process that must be learned, just like walking, talking, eating, telling colors apart, distinguishing sounds, and telling time. You learned these when you were a child, and now you can perform them without effort, without being conscious of the mental processes involved. You can learn the process of using your memory just as thoroughly and when you do, you will have in your power a hundred times the knowledge and experience you actually put to use now.In this audiobook, you will learn tips and tricks on how to enhance your memory so you won’t have problems remembering information like names, places, numbers and many more!Topics that will be covered are the following:- Mental Filing System that Really Works- How to Get Your First Five Mental Hooks- Making Your Own Mental Images- How to Remember What You Read- What’s in a Name…to Remember it By?- And many more!Anyone can do it, and it will be worth your while to develop a good memory. TO learn more, scroll up and click “add to cart” now!

Show book

The Southernization of America -...

Frye Gaillard, Cynthia Tucker

Pulitzer Prize-winner Cynthia Tucker and award-winning author Frye Gaillard reflect on the role of the South in America's long descent into Trumpism. In 1974, Southern author John Egerton published his seminal work, The Americanization of Dixie, reflecting on the double-edged reality of the South becoming more like the rest of the country and vice versa. Tucker and Gaillard dive deeper into that reality from the time that Egerton published his book until the present. They explore the "birtherism" of Donald Trump and the roots of the racial backlash against President Obama; the specter of family separation on our southern border, with its echoes of similar separations in the era of slavery; as well as the rise of the Christian right, demonstrations in Charlottesville, the death of George Floyd, and the attack on the capital—all of which, they argue, have roots that trace their way to the South. But Tucker and Gaillard see another side too, a legacy rooted in the civil rights years that has given us political leaders like John Lewis, Jimmy Carter, Raphael Warnock, and Stacy Abrams. The authors raise the ironic possibility that the South might lead the way on the path to redemption. They bring a multi-racial perspective and years of political reporting to bear on a critical moment in American history, a time of racial reckoning and of democracy under siege.

Show book

Investigating the Pied Piper of...

Michael Finney

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a legendary figure from medieval Germany. This enigmatic character has been shrouded in mystery for centuries, with various interpretations and adaptations appearing across literature, art, and popular culture. 
“Investigating the Pied Piper of Hamelin" takes readers on a journey through the history and folklore surrounding this perhaps mythical figure. The book examines how the legend has evolved over time, influenced by various cultural and literary traditions as well as connections to the larger canon of fairy tales. 
This audiobook provides an insightful look at:The historical context of Hamelin's rat infestation and its possible connections to real-life eventsThe symbolism and significance of the Pied Piper as a figure representing both good and evil forces

Show book

Resilient Grieving Second...

PhD Lucy Hone, PhD Karen Reivich

The death of someone we hold dear may be inevitable; being paralyzed by our grief is not. Recent research has revealed our capacity for resilient grieving, our innate ability to respond to traumatic loss by finding ways to grow—by becoming more engaged with our lives, and discovering new, profound meaning. 
 
 
 
In this completely updated and expanded second edition, author and resilience/well-being expert Lucy Hone, a pioneer in positive psychology and bereavement research, continues to push her field forward. In 2014, Lucy was faced with her own inescapable sorrow after her twelve-year-old daughter was killed in a car accident. By following the strategies of resilient grieving, she found a proactive way to move through her grief, and, over time, embrace life again. Since then, Lucy has become a leading voice in resilience and bereavement science, overturning widely held myths and misconceptions, making plain the harms of rigid models such as Kübler-Ross's five stages, and advocating for a more adaptive grieving process that emphasizes emotions, relationships, attention, forgiveness, and self-compassion. 
 
 
 
As heard on NPR's Hidden Brain and CBS News 
 
 
 
2017 Foreword INDIES Bronze Winner

Show book

Hooked - Art and Attachment

Rita Felski

How does a novel entice or enlist us? How does a song surprise or seduce us? Why do we bristle when a friend belittles a book we love, or fall into a funk when a favored TV series comes to an end? What characterizes the aesthetic experiences of feeling captivated by works of art? In Hooked, Rita Felski challenges the ethos of critical aloofness that is a part of modern intellectuals’ self-image. The result is sure to be as widely read as Felski’s book, The Limits of Critique. 
 
Wresting the language of affinity away from accusations of sticky sentiment and manipulative marketing, Felski argues that “being hooked” is as fundamental to the appreciation of high art as to the enjoyment of popular culture. Hooked zeroes in on three attachment devices that connect audiences to works of art: identification, attunement, and interpretation. Drawing on examples from literature, film, music, and painting—from Joni Mitchell to Matisse, from Thomas Bernhard to Thelma and Louise—Felski brings the language of attachment into the academy. Hooked returns us to the fundamentals of aesthetic experience, showing that the social meanings of artworks are generated not just by critics, but also by the responses of captivated audiences.

Show book