Locke's thoughts on logic, rhetoric, reading and Cervantes
Don Quixote The empiricist philosopher, John Locke (1632 – 1704), is best know for his Essay concerning Human Understanding (1690) and Two Treatises of Government (1689). Also important are his Letters concerning Toleration (1689, 1690, 1692) and Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693). But it was just today that I came across a reprint of his manuscript Some thoughts concerning reading and study for a gentleman (1703) which Dr Johnson's quotes from in his dictionary definition of rhetorick. I was particularly interested to reflect on Locke's notion of connectness in education. Since the text is interesting in its own right I have copied the extracts that follow from it. The first is from the opening; the second praises Cervantes' novel Don Quixote (1605) Locke concluded his thoughts by recommending the use of dictionaries and encyclopaedias. [p. 405] Reading is for the improvement of the understanding. The improvement of the unders