What’s in Locke’s journals?

Abstract

John Locke wrote a large number of notes in his journals from 1675 to 1704, when he died. They covered such diverse topics as morals, politics, religion, physics and education. Several of these notes were the direct inspiration for An Essay concerning Human Understanding. Many scholars have insisted that Locke’s journals represent an excellent source for investigating his intellectual development. Some of them were involved in the ambitious project to publish their entire content, a hard task which has not yet been fulfilled. The purpose of this contribution is to highlight how important this task is for a full comprehension of Locke’s thought.