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An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Oxford World's Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: John Locke
Creator: Pauline Phemister
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $10.56
You Save: $7.39 (41%)
New (41) Used (9) from $10.56
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 296141
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0199296626
Dewey Decimal Number: 121
EAN: 9780199296620
ASIN: 0199296626
Publication Date: October 15, 2008
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
John Locke's classic work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding laid the foundation of British empiricism and remains of enduring interest today. Rejecting doctrines of innate principles and ideas, Locke shows how all our ideas, even the most abstract and complex, are grounded in human experience--attained by sensation of external things or reflection upon our mental activities. A thorough examination of the communication of ideas through language and the convention 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. This abridgement, based on P.H. Nidditch's acclaimed critical edition, retains in full all key passages, thus enabling Locke's arguments to be more clearly followed. The new introduction by Pauline Phemister provides valuable background on Locke's essay, illuminating its arguments and conclusions. The book also includes a chronological table of significant events, select bibliography, succinct explanatory notes, and an index--all of which supply additional historical information and aids to navigating the text.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 One of the major works in Western Philosophy January 20, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
It has been many years since I pondered and repondered over this volume. Locke is an important figure in the history of Western Philosophy. He is really the founding figure of the great empirical tradition which would go through Hume all the way up to the various analytical philosophies of the twentieth century.
He is also a major political thinker whose importance for the great founders of America cannot be overestimated.
Locke talks about the mind as tabula rasa as a blank slate which experience writes upon, and reflection compounds into ' complex ideas' The simple ideas come through experience. This total rejection of inherent ideas, and inherent structures of the mind is something which a lot of modern linguistic theory rejects.
As to the way we apprehend experience immediately I think here too Locke is in some way contradicted by modern psychological theory which would speak in some sense about our structuring that experience through our own participation in perception. In other words Locke's model of perception is I believe a far too ' passive one'. I cannot however judge, as I do not know enough about the subject whether or not Lockean categories in these areas of perception, reflection and in general description of the way we experience and know the world have any force today.
Locke's political thinking is incorporated in the Declaration of Independence with its formulation of rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As strong opponent of tyrannical authority in the political world Locke's thinking made a real impact on the world. He is one of those thinkers at the foundation of modern democratic thought.
The book is not easy reading. I can remember going back over it again and again to try and understand the difference between primary and secondary qualities- I can remember trying to understand how much of what Locke says has validity and is ' really the truth'.
Parenthetically I think of how as a young person knowing the truth finding the truth was such a supreme value for me. And how I thus felt it so important to know whether Locke was ' right' or not. Time and experience perhaps have made me worse. And I see this work as yet one more effort to interpret and understand Reality . This is as if to say I at this age anyway seem to accept the idea that I myself will not know and find the truth in regard to everything, including the philosophy of Locke.
Again. This is one of the major works of Western philosophy and it should be read and studied by one who cares to know the Western philosophical tradition.
 Not unless you need it... December 31, 2003
16 out of 59 found this review helpful
For the most part, this book is unreadable and uninspiring. The abridged editions are not much better. It was highly influential in its time, so it's standard reading for history-of-philosophy courses. This is one of several excellent reasons why you shouldn't take history of philosophy courses.For the voluntary reader, the fact that Locke was highly influential also means that his ideas have been developed into something clearer and more interesting by the intervening generations. Read Hume or a 20th-cent. empiricist instead.
Only to Be Used in Scholarly Research December 29, 2003
18 out of 23 found this review helpful
The Nidditch edition of Locke's Essay is commonly considered the authoritative version of the text. This in mind, the Nidditch text is to be avoided for the beginner to Locke. This is not due to any oversights or editorial intrusion that corrupts the work. Considering Nidditch restored the text and avoided the common editorial tendency to use paragraph introductions for each section (which Locke did not), atop of not having to contend with translation liberties, it stands as the only scholarly edition of the work. However, because it is restored to its original state, one must remember that capitalization for any and all (deemed) pertinent terms or phrases was a common practice during Locke's time. As such, readers in the 21st century typically associate a capitalized letter (unless it is a proper name or title) with a new sentence, thus a new thought. Having to continuously reorganize one's thoughts to conform to Locke's now archaic prose style (which occurs anywhere from one to six or more times in a typical sentence) distracts from the overall content of the work. As such, the reader may be well advised to obtain another critical edition of the work and use the Nidditch text as a reference tool.
Worth Re-Cognising April 5, 2003
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Any search for this text will result in a plethora of commentaries upon it, whilst it itself seems almost doomed to take second place. The importance of this work to philosophy cannot be underestimated; Descartes is held in common perception to be the figure who changed the course of philosophy. Whilst it is true he may have dipped his toes in uncharted waters, Locke was the first to plunge in. Here we find human understanding stripped to its first principles and from there rebuilt in such a fashion as to purge the presumptions of our age. Locke recommends modesty to the philosopher and thinker throughout and in our current times this message might need restated. In a world, which owes so much to the United States Constitution, it would be appropriate for us all to see what it owed its own origins to and be recalled to values of liberty, modesty and reason in a way which does not rush headlong into a catastrophe of pride.
Outstanding work from a Giant of a Mind. March 23, 2003
6 out of 14 found this review helpful
The most important book in the History of Western Philosophy. Anyone wishing to understand the western tradition will have to grapple with this work eventually.Its not that Locke got everything right, but he does at least point us in the right direction.
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