Locke, Literary Criticism, and Philosophy

William Walker's analysis of John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding offers a challenging and provocative assessment of Locke's importance as a thinker, bridging the gap between philosophical and literary-critical discussion of his work. He is revealed as a crucial figure for emerging modernity, less the familiar empiricist innovator and more a proto-Nietzschean thinker. Walker's reading of Locke is finely attentive to the text and resourceful in placing the Essay in its broadest philosophical and historical context.

• The first study to engage with Locke through philosophy and literary-criticism
• Presents Locke in a new light as crucial for the development of modernity and as a proto-Nietzschean thinker
• Important for literary theory: includes a chapter on Locke and De Man