An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, In Four Books, The Eighteenth Edition. Locke (John) Philosophie

2 vol. in 8°, de 16ff. 452pp. & 8ff. 410pp. & 13ff. d'index, pl. veau blond époque, dos lisse orné de filets dorés, p. de t. rouge et noire, bon exemplaire. Paru en 1689 l'Essai de Locke constitue la première tentative moderne d'analyse du savoir humain, qui fut poursuivie par Hume et Kant. Considered the father of English empiricism and liberalism, " (Locke) was the first to take up the challenge of Bacon and to attempt to estimate critically the certainty and the adequacy of human knowledge when confronted with God and the universe. In the past, similar enquiries had been vitiated by the human propensity to extend them beyond the range of human understanding, and to invent causes for what it cannot explain. Therefore, Locke's first task was to ascertain 'the original certainty and extent of human knowledge' and, excluding' the physical consideration of the mind, to show how far it can comprehend the universe'. His conclusion is that though knowledge must necessarily fall short of complete comprehension, it can at least be 'sufficient'; enough to convince us that we are not at the mercy of pure chance, and can to some extent control our own destiny" (Printing and the Mind of Man, 164)