I'm feeling quite pleased with my progress on Locke at the moment. I'm currently writing up material on Locke's theory of language and its normative ramifications. So far I have about 13 pages of manuscript prepared for this section, and another 15 for the previous section on Locke's polemic against innate ideas.
John Locke - the man himself
At the moment I really feel the work has an edge to it. Scholars of Locke's philosophy have not been unpacking this material in the kinds of terms that I have been. At the same time my engagement with their work helps me take a more philosophically rigorous approach than some intellectual historians and political theorists who have been more sympathetic to drawing out the moral and ethical aims in Locke's philosophy.
The next section will be on Locke's theory of knowledge, rational belief, and intellectual assent (that is the minds acceptance of a stated proposition as grounding knowledge, probable opinion, or mere fancy). I take it that intellectual assent is an example of willing, and the entire structure is in many ways the completion of the psychological grounding of responsibility Locke commenced in his theory of volition.
So there's a brief PhD update. As much as I might enjoy it, and as much as the web always has more room for ponderousness, I had better stop myself now before a summary of my recent work becomes a full blown philosophical monologue.
Once more into the breach,
Ben
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