British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences

 

BA PDF Symposium 2004: Abstracts

21 April 2004

Dr James Harris

The Influence of Locke's Essay on Eighteenth-Century British Philosophy

Received wisdom has it that John Locke’s Essay concerning Human Understanding (1690) was extraordinarily influential the eighteenth century. But what, exactly, was the nature of the Essay’s influence on the next hundred years of British philosophy? A Lockean theme that is discussed everywhere is the critique of the doctrine of innate ideas. Yet much more often than not one finds Locke’s own views concerning innate ideas being sharply criticized and seriously revised. Scottish philosophers, including Hume, but especially those of the common sense school, follow Shaftesbury in seeking to rehabilitate innateness, though they are careful to avoid claiming that what is innate are ideas: they are concerned, rather, with principles, or dispositions, of belief and action. English philosophers, on the other hand, frequently wish that Locke had been more radical still in his banishment of all things innate. Hartley, Tucker and Priestley attack Locke’s distinction between ideas of sensation and ideas of reflection, and seek to show (like Condillac) that sensation alone is the source of every idea we have. They argue also that Locke distinguishes between sensation and reflection as sources of ideas because he has an erroneous conception of the role that the association of ideas plays in the life of the mind. They reject Locke’s portrayal of the association of ideas as a ‘disease’ and a ‘sort of madness’, and place it at the heart of mental functioning. With respect to another central question in the philosophy of mind, the question of the nature of human liberty, Locke is almost universally held to have given an inadequate answer. The same could be said of his account of the basis of personal identity. Nevertheless, it is correct to say that almost every British philosopher is keen to advertise his debt to Locke. So, again, what is it to be a ‘Lockean’ in the eighteenth century?

James A. Harris studied English as an undergraduate at Oxford, but did graduate degrees in philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York and back at Oxford. He was Gifford Research Fellow at Glasgow for 2000-2001. St Catherine's College, Oxford has been his host instution while he has been a Postdoctoral Fellow. In September 2004 he will begin as a lecturer in philosophy at St Andrews.