CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING 4 BOOKS II AND IV (WITH OMISSIONS) THE SELECTED BY MARY WHITON CALKINS THIRD EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED "TO KNOW HOW TO SAY WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ONLY CHICAGO ::: LONDON OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY HARVARD COLLEG Substituted for a copy lost COPYRIGHT BY THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO. 1905 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PREFACE. THIS condensation of Locke's "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" is printed with a single practical end in view: to present in inexpensive form the essentials of Locke's teaching in metaphysics and in psychology. Book I., except the first, introductory chapter, is omitted, because the innate-idea controversy is a dead issue; Book III. is omitted because it deals with considerations of logic and of language. The omissions from Books II, and IV. have been made with regret but, it is hoped, with judgment. The body of the text has been compared, word for word, with that of Fraser's edition; but in the paragraph headings, orthography, punctuation and use of italics, another edition (the thirty-fifth) has been followed. The title-page is that of the second edition. No bibliographical or historical notes have been added, for Fraser's edition makes it unnecessary and impertinent for any other person to repeat his work. Brackets, adopted from the Fraser text, indicate deviations, from the first edition of the "Essay," in the three other editions published in Locke's lifetime and in the French translation made by Coste, but supervised by Locke himself. The most important of these are the addition of chapter XXVII. to Book II., changes The and the alteration of chapters VIII. and XXI. changes in chapter VIII. were first made in the fourth edition; the most important changes in chapter XXI.— in particular the substitution of sections 28-62 for the original sections, 28-38, were made in the 2d edition.* This preface offers an opportunity to urge on students of the "Essay" the advantages of a further reading of Locke. His treatises on social and political subjects, however antiquated the precise problems under discussion, contain the germs of important theories later formulated by other writers; his little work on education has a permanent value both for its constant insistence on the need of regarding the individuality of child or pupil, and for specific counsels of many sorts; his letters, finally, especially those to his young friend and "obstinate lover," Anthony Collins, form an invaluable part of the literature of friendship. For permission to reproduce the title-page of a copy of the second edition of the "Essay," the editor is indebted to the Harvard University library. The second edition of this reprint of Locke's "Essay" is enriched by the English translation of Leclerc's "Life and Character of Mr. John Locke"-the little work which lies at the basis of most of the biographies of Locke, and which is not now elsewhere readily accessible. This "Life" is reprinted from the original English edition and the spelling, capitals, and italics are faithfully followed, save that the corrections indicated by the translator in his list of Errata have been incorporated in the text, and three obvious misprints have been corrected because they affect the sense. For the preparation of the Index, also added to this edition, the editor is indebted to Miss Helen G. Hood, student in philosophy at Wellesley College. * Cf. Fraser's edition, I. p. 330 Note, and pp. 375-379. |