CHAPTER XIII Locke's Theory of KnowledgeJOHN LOCKE ( 1637-1704) is the apostle of the Revolution of 1688, the most moderate and the
most successful of all revolutions. Its aims were modest, but they were exactly achieved, and no
subsequent revolution has hitherto been found necessary in England. Locke faithfully embodies its
spirit, and most of his works appeared within a few years of 1688. His chief work in theoretical
philosophy, the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, was finished in 1687 and published in
- His First Letter on Toleration was originally published in Latin in 1689, in Holland, to
which country Locke had found it prudent to withdraw in 1683. Two further letters on Toleration
were published in 1690 and 1692. His two Treatises on Government were licensed for printing in
1689, and published soon afterwards. His book on Education was published in 1693. Although his
life was long, all his influential writings are confined to the few years from 1687 to 1693.
Successful revolutions are stimulating to those who believe in them.
Locke's father was a Puritan, who fought on the side of Parliament. In the time of Cromwell, when
Locke was at Oxford, the university was still scholastic in its philosophy; Locke disliked both
scholasticism and the fanaticism of the Independents. He was much influenced by Descartes. He
became a physician, and his patron was Lord Shaftesbury, Dryden's "Achitophel." When
Shaftesbury fell in 1683, Locke fled with him to Holland, and remained there until the Revolution.
After the Revolution, except for a few years during which he was employed at the Board of Trade,
his life was devoted to literary work and to numerous controversies arising out of his books.
The years before the Revolution of 1688, when Locke could not, without grave risk, take any part,
theoretical or practical, in English politics, were spent by him in composing his Essay on the
Human Understanding. This is his most important book, and the one upon