John Locke, Thoughts Concerning Education

Mark Goldie (University of Cambridge)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Domains

Education
Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1693

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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In the eighteenth century Locke's

Thoughts Concerning Education

was as widely read as his

Essay Concerning Human Understanding

, and probably more so than his

Two Treatises of Government

. The book appealed to parents grown suspicious of the drudge Latinity of the grammar schools and the clerical pedantry of the universities. Published in 1693,

Some Thoughts

was dedicated to his friend the Whig MP Edward Clarke, for whom it had been drafted in a series of private letters from 1684 onwards. Locke amended successive editions until the fifth, which appeared in 1705. The book concerns the education of gentlemen's sons, aiming to “produce virtuous, useful, and able men in their distinct callings”. Locke assumes a two-class society, comprising the gentry and the rest, and a patriarchal…

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1183 words

Citation: Goldie, Mark. "Thoughts Concerning Education". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8308, accessed 24 November 2024.]