Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke

Abstract

This posthumous volume collects six works by John Locke, several left unfinished or without final revision. Of the Conduct of the Understanding examines prejudices, intellectual habits, and other obstacles to sound reasoning, recommending scrutiny of principles, open inquiry, and mathematical exercise to train the mind. An Examination of P. Malebranche’s Opinion of Seeing all things in God challenges the intelligibility and explanatory value of Malebranche’s account of perception, arguing that it does not remove the ignorance it claims to overcome. A Discourse of Miracles defines a miracle through a witness’s judgment that an observable operation exceeds their understanding, departs from nature’s established course, and is divine. It considers miracles as credentials for revelation, using superior power to distinguish competing claims while requiring consistency with natural religion and morality. The unfinished Part of a Fourth Letter for Toleration argues that authorizing magistrates to promote true religion by force would empower rulers of different faiths to impose their own convictions, harming the religious truth the policy claims to serve. Memoirs relating to the Life of Anthony first Earl of Shaftesbury records episodes in the statesman’s political life and character, followed by three letters written by Shaftesbury during his imprisonment in the Tower. A New Method of a Common-Place-Book, translated from French, explains a compact index based on initial letters and vowels, allocation of facing pages to classes of headings, and references linking continuations. – AI-generated abstract.