Abstract

Published in 1689, Locke's pioneering investigation into the origins, certainty, and extent of human knowledge set the groundwork for modern philosophy and influenced psychology, literature, political theory, and other areas of human thought and expression. Locke draws on the philosophy of perception, empirical beliefs, and natural sciences to explain how we acquire knowledge and form the beliefs we do, how and why there are unavoidable limits to human knowledge, and how, despite these limitations, we can strive to learn more about ourselves and our universe.