Locke and botany

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 37 (2):151-171 (2006)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper argues that the English philosopher John Locke, who has normally been thought to have had only an amateurish interest in botany, was far more involved in the botanical science of his day than has previously been known. Through the presentation of new evidence deriving from Locke’s own herbarium, his manuscript notes, journal and correspondence, it is established that Locke made a modest contribution to early modern botany. It is shown that Locke had close and ongoing relations with the Bobarts, keepers of the Oxford Botanic Garden, and that Locke distributed seeds and plant parts to other botanists, seeds of which the progeny almost certainly ended up in the most important herbaria of the period. Furthermore, it is claimed that the depth of Locke’s interest in and practice of botany has a direct bearing on our understanding of his views on the correct method of natural philosophy and on the interpretation of his well known discussion of the nature of species in Book III of his Essay concerning human understanding

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 100,978

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

John Locke’s seed lists: a case study in botanical exchange.Stephen A. Harris & Peter R. Anstey - 2009 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 40 (4):256-264.
John Locke and natural philosophy.Peter R. Anstey - 2011 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Locke.Andrew Pyle - 2013 - Malden, MA: Polity.
Locke, Bacon and Natural History.Peter R. Anstey - 2002 - Early Science and Medicine 7 (1):65-92.
Locke and Natural Philosophy.Peter R. Anstey - 2015 - In Matthew Stuart (ed.), A Companion to Locke. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Blackwell. pp. 64-81.
John Locke and the Ethics of Belief (review).John Marshall - 1998 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 36 (3):468-470.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-08-30

Downloads
100 (#210,423)

6 months
15 (#200,807)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author Profiles

Citations of this work

Locke on Persons and Personal Identity.Ruth Boeker - 2021 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The mechanical life of plants: Descartes on botany.Fabrizio Baldassarri - 2019 - British Journal for the History of Science 52 (1):41-63.
John Locke’s seed lists: a case study in botanical exchange.Stephen A. Harris & Peter R. Anstey - 2009 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 40 (4):256-264.

View all 6 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

The correspondence of John Locke.John Locke - 1976 - New York: Clarendon Press. Edited by Esmond Samuel De Beer.
John Locke, John Ray, and the problem of the natural system.Phillip R. Sloan - 1972 - Journal of the History of Biology 5 (1):1-53.
Locke versus Aristotle on natural kinds.Michael Ayers - 1981 - Journal of Philosophy 78 (5):247-272.

View all 31 references / Add more references