54 pages • 1 hour read
John LockeAn Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1690A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
How do Locke’s arguments align or diverge with modern neuroscience? For example, how does his explanation of the difference between children’s and adults’ sensory experiences compare with the neuroscience of attentional processes? How do Locke’s theories about the impact of pleasure, pain, and repetition on the retention of ideas compare to contemporary neuroscience on memory and learning?
Describe how you think Locke would react to modern epistemology, including the field of philosophical skepticism.
Consider the psychological concept of “nature versus nurture.” How might Locke’s work contribute to either argument?
Locke denies that humans are born with an innate understanding of virtue and vice and that pleasure and pain provide important instruction on right action. How do these concepts compare to Aristotle’s ideas in Nicomachean Ethics?
What is the role of the soul in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding? How does the soul differ from the mind? How is it similar?
Compare Locke’s epistemological theories with those of other philosophers of his time. How is Locke unique for this period? How did he help usher in the Age of Enlightenment?
Develop an argument for tabula rasa versus innate knowledge philosophies. What are the modern-day implications of this debate?
In Book 3, Locke outlines what he views as the major problems with language. Apply his criticisms of the imperfections and abuses of words to his own writing. Does Locke commit any of the errors he condemns?
How does one studying Locke’s work use the intellectual qualities he describes throughout An Essay Concerning Human Understanding? How does a student engage with judgment, memory, discernment, comparison, composition, and abstraction while learning something new?
How do Locke’s ideas about human understanding contextualize his political philosophies? For example, how do his theories about morality and law connect with his political philosophies related to the social contract?
Related Titles
By John Locke
