Each critic has viewed the work from the perspective of his own experience and understanding. This is due in part to the fact that not all of them have interpreted what he had to say in the same way. Many of the freedoms of which we boast in the Western world today are due in no small measure to the work of this man.Īmong the critics who have expressed their views about Locke's work in writing, one finds both praise and condemnation.
In fact, it was one of Locke's major ambitions in all of his writings to dispel the sources of intolerance and encourage people to promote the cause of freedom in their thinking as well as in their actions. Rather, his purpose was to stimulate others to think for themselves, and what he had to say was intended as a means toward that end.
He was not a dogmatist, and he made no pretense of possessing a store of wisdom to be passed on to others.
This was in a sense what Locke had hoped his writing would accomplish. Scholars in each succeeding generation have become acquainted with its contents, and in many instances they have made replies in book form to the arguments presented in it.īecause the Essay deals with a subject that is of vital concern to every field of knowledge and because the author was held in high esteem by authors and men of affairs who were contemporary with him, the book became at once the subject of criticism and the occasion for many vigorous controversies. Between the time of its first publication and the author's death, four editions had been printed, and since that time more than forty editions have been published. The importance of the book is well indicated by the number of editions that have been published. Indeed, there are few disciplines in the field of higher education that have not been influenced to some extent by the ideas set forth in this monumental work. Although the main subject matter of the Essay is primarily a philosophical one, it has had a direct bearing on such areas of thought as education, government, ethics, theology, and religion. Few books have ever been written that have so adequately represented the spirit of an age or left so great an imprint on so many different fields of inquiry. It has done much to shape the course of intellectual development, especially in Europe and America, ever since it was first published in 1690. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke is one of the great books of the Western world.
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