Locke (PDF)

John Locke (1632-1704) has a good claim to the title of the
greatest ever English philosopher, and was a founding father of
both the empiricist tradition in philosophy and the liberal
tradition in politics. This new book provides an accessible
introduction to Locke's thought. Although its primary focus
is on the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, it also discusses
the Two Treatises on Government, the Essay on Toleration, and the
Reasonableness of Christianity, and draws on materials from
Locke's correspondence and notebooks to shed light on the
contexts of these major works. Locke's arguments for his
central claims are subjected to close scrutiny, and his replies to
his main critics evaluated.

A.J. Pyle takes as his guiding theme Locke's own maxim, that
God has given humans enough knowledge for our needs. The
philosopher who emerges from these pages is a strikingly modern
figure, anti-metaphysical in his attitude both to science and to
theology, anti-authoritarian in his politics, and cautiously
optimistic about human progress. Locke is indeed one of the
founding figures of the Enlightenment, but for Pyle the Lockean
Enlightenment is a modest affair of slow and hesitant groping
towards the light.

As well as serving as an introduction to Locke for students, the
book also helps to correct a number of significant errors and
misunderstandings that have marred our understanding of Locke and
will spark discussion and debate amongst scholars of his work.