CFP 2026: Locke and Childhood
A lifelong bachelor, Locke was a playful and affectionate presence in the lives of his friends’ children. He corresponded with them (by way of their parents) when he traveled, brought back trinkets and treats from abroad, and, as a guest in their homes, took a critical interest in their diet, medical care, education, and amusement. But he also took them very seriously as sources of knowledge. Locke’s philosophy is unusual in its centering of childhood as a site for philosophical investigation. The observation of early childhood development, Locke tells the reader of the Essay, can reveal the mechanisms behind the formation and deployment of ideas in the adult mind. In his discussions of language, of perception, of memory, and of belief, Locke draws on examples from infancy to young adulthood to illustrate his points. But children were not just objects, for Locke; they were also subjects. The capacity to reason – that is, to conduct the understanding – is the engine of Locke’s political philosophy, and the formation of the rational subject was of abiding interest to him. Some Thoughts concerning Education, Locke’s wildly successful and influential treatise on childrearing, can be fruitfully read in the context of this elevation of childhood into a philosophical concept, central to his epistemological and political projects. His description of how the child shakes off the “swaddling clothes” of their parents’ and tutors’ reason in order to become a moral agent illustrates the complexity of an account in which rationality, and therefore agency, is not all or nothing, and must be cultivated.
Contributions are invited for the 2026 volume of Studi Lockiani that treat any aspect of Locke’s engagement with childhood, including but not limited to his developmental psychology, his political and civic theory, his regulative and analytic epistemology, his writings on gender and the family, and his pedagogy.
Submission e-mail: studilockiani@gmail.com
Deadlines:
Abstract (500-800 words) delivery on April 30, 2025.
Notifications of acceptance: May 31, 2025.
Full paper delivery: December 31, 2025
The Journal publishes articles (max. 12.000 words), notes (max. 5000 words), discussions and reviews (max. 1000 words).
