Thinker
2 readings
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John Locke
Thinker · 2 readings
Locke examines the sources and limits of ideas and the grounds of political authority. His accounts of experience, consent and property each invite distinct objections.
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2 readings · Title A–Z
Guided course · Module 9 · Lesson 50
Ideas, experience and a material world
Locke traces ideas to experience and distinguishes primary from secondary qualities; Berkeley challenges the material substance supposed to bear them. What does experience warrant about the objects we encounter?
Guided course · Module 9 · Lesson 52
Why should anyone obey a government?
Hobbes and Locke disagree about the grounds and limits of political authority. A shared case tests their accounts of protection, consent, rights and resistance.