Of the Conduct of the Understanding/Introduction
INTRODUCTION
Probably no man in England, during the period immediately following the Revolution, contributed more toward the cause of progress and civilization than the philosopher, John Locke. The storm in which Locke said that he found himself when he came into the world was both political and religious. Parliament and King, Roundhead and Cavalier, Puritan and Churchman were the parties between whom the storm raged during the first half of the seventeenth century. The beheading of Charles I. in 1649 brought Parliament and the Puritans into power; but the failure to maintain the Commonwealth after the death of Cromwell brought about, in 1660, the restoration of the monarchy and of the Established Church. It was not alone moral corruption in church and state that led to these changes. The period was one of transition in English thought. Up to the beginning of the century, the scholasticism of the Middle Ages was still dominant. The learned doctors at the universities spent their time in splitting hairs and wrangling over useless questions. Philosophy was allied with the dogmatic theology of the day, and independent thought was stifled. But the time was ripe for a change. Bacon now came and infused new life into philosophy and science; Milton arose as the apostle of freedom of thought and speech; the divine right of kings came to be no longer accepted without question; the more rational of the clergy tried to construct a philosophic religion, while Hobbes, a follower of Bacon, brought forward a destructive philosophy that at once aroused a storm of opposition. A spirit of discontent was abroad. Men were beginning to desire a better philosophy, a more enlightened religion, a truer science, and a freer government, and it was into such an environment of national thought and life that John Locke was born August 29, 1632.
Though born at Urington in the north of Somersetshire, it is probable that most of Locke's early life was spent in Pensford near Bristol, where his father had a small estate. A man of some local fame as an attorney, his father early joined the Parliamentary army. This fact alone was sufficient to interest the young son in the stirring events of the time. At the age of fourteen he entered Westminster School, at which time the poet Dryden was also a pupil there. In 1652 he became a student at Christ Church, Oxford, where, it has been suggested, he obtained his first ideas of religious toleration from Dr. John Owen, the Puritan Dean of Christ Church. Locke's life at the University covered the period of the Commonwealth. Though he undoubtedly gained much while here from his opportunities for individual thought and study and for intercourse with other men, he became growingly discontented with the prescribed course of study, especially with the methods in logic and philosophy. He worked on, however, and secured his degrees of A. B. and A. M. and, in 1660, was appointed to a Greek lectureship in his own college. The same year his father died.
About this time was written the “Reflections upon the Roman Commonwealth,” though the work was not published until some time after. In this essay Locke traced all public ills to the dominance of the priesthood, and he held that the only remedy lay in the supremacy of the state. His ideal was the Roman Constitution, in which he found but two essentials of belief—the goodness of the gods and the merit of a moral life.
Locke's interest in science led him to the study of medicine, which he hoped to make a profession. Ill health, however, prevented him from engaging in regular practice, though his skill was held in high esteem and his services were often in demand.
In 1662 he was transferred from the Greek lectureship to one in Rhetoric, and three years later he left the University for his first visit to the Continent, going as secretary of an embassy to the Elector of Brandenburg. His personal letters at this time are full of interest. Nothing escaped his observation and he did not fail to tell his friends of what he saw and heard. In less than a year, however, he returned to Oxford, where his friendship with Lord Ashley soon began. Later he took up his residence in London with his newly found friend, and here came in contact with many of the famous men of the day.
Through this intimacy he began to be drawn into public affairs. Lord Ashley was one of the eight lords proprietors to whom the Carolina grant had been made. Locke was interested in the plan for colonization and became practically the manager of the association. The famous Constitution, which has been characterized as “the most grotesque curiosity in modern political history,” has been attributed to Locke; but he was probably author of only a part. It was not long after this, in 1671, when the “Five or six friends” that met for discourse on subjects of mutual interest found themselves suddenly face to face with problems touching the character of the human mind. The discussions that followed led to the beginning of Locke's greatest work, the “Essay concerning the human Understanding.” An account of how the Essay came to be written is given by the author in the introductory “Epistle to the Reader.”
The condition of Locke's health about this time suggested a trip to the Continent. After a few months, however, Lord Ashley, recently created Earl of Shaftesbury, being appointed Lord High Chancellor of the realm, called Locke home to act as his advisor as well as to fill the offices of Secretary of Presentations and Secretary to the Council of Trade and Plantations. It was not long before Shaftesbury incurred the displeasure of the king, and with his fall Locke too stepped out of public office. The freedom from public responsibility gave him the opportunity for doing again what the state of his health demanded. This time he took up his residence at Montpellier in France, where he remained until 1679, in which year, Shaftesbury being restored, Locke returned to England. But he was now destined to share the fortunes of his patron, who, being discovered in 1682 in a plot against the king, fled to Holland, whither he was soon followed by Locke. This land of tolerance was the home of the philosopher until his return to England with the Princess Mary in 1689.
During these years in Holland he was free to think and study as he never would have been in England. Always eager to exchange his thoughts with other men, he organized here a literary club similar to the one he had formed at Lord Ashley's. Le Clere, with whom he had formed an intimacy, was at this time publishing a literary and scientific review, the “Bibliothèque Universelle,” and to this Locke became a contributor. The year of his return to England, the first “Letter on Toleration” was published anonymously in Holland. This letter, as well as the three that followed, expressed a broader principle than the world was yet ready to accept. Locke tolerated all beliefs but atheism, which, he held, struck at morality, and Roman Catholicism, which was in itself intolerant of others. Though he spent his life in the Church of England, it is evident from his writings that he considered her doctrines narrow.
The “Essay concerning the Human Understanding” was published in 1690, soon after Locke's return to England. He received thirty pounds for the copyright, not a large sum for a work that had been more than eighteen years in preparation and was destined to be one of the greatest influences in the establishment of modern philosophy. Sir James Mackintosh says of the Essay: “Few books have contributed more to rectify prejudice, to undermine established errors, to diffuse a just mode of thinking, to excite a fearless spirit of inquiry, and yet to contain it within the boundaries which Nature has prescribed to the human understanding.”
Locke's aim in the Essay is to discover how people acquire knowledge and develop thought. He rejects the theory of innate ideas and likens the mind to a blank sheet of paper. All thought, he concludes, is the result of sensation, or the operations of the external senses, and reflection, or the notice which the mid takes of its own operations. his reasoning processes were direct and simple, and the language of the Essay is an exact expression of his own clear thought. Sentences, however, are frequently loose and carelessly constructed, and his evident desire to make things perfectly plain sometimes leads him into wearisome repetition. He was the first of the philosophers to adopt the expression, the Association of Ideas, though the thought underlying it had, to a certain extent, been made use of by his predecessors. His use of the term idea is at times ambiguous, as he does not distinguish between the popular and the philosophical use of the word.
The “Essay on the Conduct of the Understanding,” which was not published until after Locke's death, was undoubtedly designed as an additional chapter to the great Essay. This is evident from the author's own notes on the subject. H. R. Fox Bourne, perhaps the fullest and most careful of Locke's biographers, says of it: “It is a collection of notes for an essay or discourse, the notes often repeating one another, and sometimes not fitting very well together. But the incoherence almost enhances the value of the work to us, if not as a scientific treatise, as an index to the modest, earnest temper in which Locke prepared to give his last message to the world as an apostle of truth.” At one point in this Essay we read, “I am not inquiring the easy way to an opinion, but the right way to truth.” In this brief statement may be found the purpose of all Locke's intellectual work and the secret of his influence on the deeper thought of his time. Two “Treatises on Civil Government” were published in the same year as the great Essay. “Thoughts concerning Education” came from the press in 1693. This treatise was suggested by the interest the author took in the education of the children of his friend, Edward Clarke. About this time Locke was much interested in public affairs, especially those relating to finance. One of his tracts at this period was on the “Lowering of Interest.” He felt much solicitude for the future of the currency, which was in a very unstable condition owing to the practice of clipping the coins. Locke's advice was much sought in these trying times, for, however much his philosophy might be criticised, his conclusions in practical matters were always found to be wise and prudent. In this crisis he urged strongly the minting of coins, and he became himself one of the original proprietors of the Bank of England. The last public office that he held was that of Commissioner of the Board of Trade. This he resigned in 1700 and so gave up his active connection with public affairs.
The principal writings of Locke's later years were controversial in character. The spirit of the age was one of controversy, and it was but natural that Locke should feel its influence. In 1695 he published an “Essay on the Reasonableness of Christianity.” This was attacked by John Edwards of Cambridge. Locke wrote a “Vindication” of his Essay, which called forth an answer from Edwards. This was followed by a second “Vindication” by Locke.
More famous than this, however, was his controversy with Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester. This began in 1696 and did not close until the death of Stillingfleet in 1699. The dispute turned on the Bishop's interpretation of the Essay as opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity. Thomas Fowler, Locke's most recent biographer, says of this episode in his life: “There can be no doubt that the antagonists were unequally matched. Stillingfleet was clumsy both in handling and argument, and constantly misrepresented or exaggerated the statements of his adversary. On the other hand, Locke, notwithstanding an unnecessary prolixity which wearies the modern reader, shows admirable skill and temper. He deals tenderly with his victim, as if he loved him, but none the less, never fails to dispatch him with a mortal stab.”
In 1691 Locke took up his residence at Oates, in the parish of High Laver. Here, in the home of Sir Francis Masham, he was destined to spend the remainder of his days. For several years he kept his rooms in London, where he spent much of his time, but Oates was his home.
His personal characteristics were such as to make him always a welcome member of this household. His never-failing cheerfulness, his amiable disposition, and his fascinating powers in conversation were in themselves sufficient to win the regard of all who came in contact with him. After several years of gradually declining health, he died at Oates October 28, 1704, and was buried in the parish church at High Laver.
The estimate of two of Locke's personal friends will perhaps furnish the best tribute to his character. Thomas Sydenham, the eminent physician, said: “A man whom, in the acuteness of his intellect, in the steadiness of his judgment, and in the simplicity, that is, in the excellence of his manners, I confidently declare to have amongst the men of our own time few equals and no superior.” Jean Le Clere wrote of him: “He was a profound philosopher, and a man fit for the most important affairs. He had much knowledge of belles lettres, and his manners were very polite and particularly engaging. He knew something of almost everything which can be useful to mankind, and was thoroughly master of all that he had studied, but he showed his superiority by not appearing to value himself in any way on account of his great attainments.”
No better summary can be given of the character and value of Locke’s work than is contained in the following extract from Dr. Thomas Fowler: “Great as is the debt which philosophy owes to Locke’s ‘Essay,’ constitutional theory to his ‘Treatises on Government,’ the freedom of religious speculation to his ‘Letters on Toleration,’ and the ways of ‘sweet reasonableness’ to all these, and indeed to all his works, it would form a nice subject of discussion whether mankind at large has not been more benefited by the share which he took in practical reforms than by his literary productions. It would undoubtedly be too much to affirm that, without his initiative or assistance, the state of the coinage would never have been reformed, the monopoly of the Stationers’ Company abolished, or the shackles of the Licensing Act struck off. But had it not been for his clearness of vision, and the persistence of his philanthropic efforts, these measures might have been indefinitely retarded or clogged with provisos and compromises which might have robbed them of more than half their effects.”