Francesco Soave critic of John Locke’s Essay

Abstract

In 1775, Francesco Soave published his voluminous abridgement of John Locke’s Essay concerning human understanding, incorporating notes and appendices aimed at discussing and updating the content of the Essay. The paper highlights Soave’s debt to Condillac, but also his originality. Like Condillac, Soave rejected Locke’s opinion that reflection is a source of ideas, yet he kept his distance from the abbot on a number of issues such as the way of explaining how mental operations originate from sensation and the roles played by reflection and consciousness in the construction of the idea of personal identity. The paper also points out that Soave was quite averse to Locke’s moral theory and regarded him as a moral relativist. Finally, the criticism that Soave moved against Le Clerc regarding the unorthodox implications of Locke’s theory of personal identity is taken into consideration.