Locke and French Materialism

by John W. Yolton

Overview

This book tells for the first time the long and complex story of the involvement of Locke's suggestion that God could add to matter the power of thought in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding in the growth of French materialism. There is a discussion of the 'affaire de Prades', in which Locke's name was linked with a censored thesis at the Faculty of Theology in Paris. The similarities and differences between English "thinking matter" and the French "matière pensante" of the philosophes are also discussed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198242741
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/11/1991
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	8.74(w) x 5.78(h) x 0.82(d)
Lexile:	1420L (what's this?)

About the Author

Rutgers University

Editorial Reviews

"This book is masterpiece of erudition and research by an eminent Locke scholar....The book will be of lasting interest to students of the history of French and English philosophy."—Eighteenth-Century Studies

"An exemplar of scholarly analysis and detail."—The Modern Schoolman

"This is an excellent resource for scholars interested in 18th-century philosophy of mind."—Choice

"Yolton's work simultaneously presents an extremely sophisticated picture of several major dimensions of the reception of Locke's Essay in France....It is to be hoped that future books will extend our understanding of the multifaceted influence of the Essay upon Enlightenment culture in other countries as lucidly as this exemplary book has extended our understanding of the roles of the Essay in the French Enlightenment."—Journal of Modern History

From the Publisher