The Theory of Ideas in Gassendi and Locke

There has recently been controversy over whether Gassendi should be considered the source of modem empiricism.1 Present day interest in Gassendi's influence on Locke perhaps dates from the observation of R. I. Aaron in his book on Locke, first published in 1937, that influence of Gassendi upon Locke, and indeed, upon English thought in general at this period has been strangely neglected.2 David Fate Norton in his paper Myth of 'British Empiricism' goes substantially further than Aaron, asserting not only that Gassendi influenced Locke but that Gassendi, not Locke, is the founder of modem empiricism.3 Richard Kroll questions the grounds for Norton's claim but concludes that there is evidence supporting an influence of Gassendi upon Locke.4 While Locke did have contact with Gassendists in France, notably Francois Bernier, and owned a copy of Bernier's Abrege de la Philosophie de Gassendi, Kroll denies that this could be the source of Gassendist influence on Locke's essay; for as Kroll points out, much of the substance of Locke's Essay was in draft form in 1671. At this time Locke had not met Bemier and Bemier had not yet published his translation of Gassendi.5 The source of Gassendist influence on the early drafts of Locke's Essay, Kroll suggests, is the translation of Gassendi's Philosophiae Epicuri Syntagma published in Thomas Stanley's The History of Philosophy, a work found in Locke's library.6 Kroll criticizes Norton for making use of a somewhat ahistorical morphological method, relying mainly on internal evidence, evidence

Epistemology · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Philosophy and Science · Philosophy

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