An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Methodology and Conclusions

In «An Essay Concerning Human Understanding», John Locke employs an empirical methodology based on observation and analysis of experience as the source of all human knowledge. Locke rejects the idea of innate ideas and claims that the human mind at the beginning of life is like a blank slate («tabula rasa») on which experience leaves its marks. He divides experience into two main types: sensation, which we receive through the senses, and reflection, which is the internal perception of the mind's activities. Locke also analyzes the process of forming complex ideas from simple ones and examines the nature of language and its role in understanding. In his conclusions, Locke emphasizes the limitations of human knowledge and the necessity of a critical approach to its sources, asserting that our understanding of the world will always be incomplete and dependent on experience.