Let’s now take a quick peek at the theories I have so far:
- Could the popularity be solely driven by Locke’s ideas? Locke wrote in a very accessible manner and his ideas were quite ‘cutting-edge’.
- Was the book marketed as a Religiously appropriate book?
- Did people just buy the book because having it made them look smarter? The ‘Cultural Capital’ angle.
- Was it popular because Locke was associated with a few big names like Newton?
I think that it would be better for us to keep these theories in mind, but instead of applying the theories to the information, I am going to let the information to point to a theory.
To answer the question of popularity, we should start with trying to get a grasp at the conditions this book was read in. I am going to rely on the Cultural History of Reading from this point on. Watling writes, “The Enlightenment in particular represents a dividing line between broad acceptance of church and monarchial doctrine on the one hand, and the orderly Christian God, and the rise of “Natural Philosophy” on the other. In terms of scientific progress, the Enlightenment saw major advancements in mathematics, engineering, and technology, as empirical methodologies replaced inductive assumption as the dominant form of establishing “truth” (176).
Having this information, I am thinking back to all the scholarly editions in Locke’s work by A. Churchill. The footnotes serve the interesting purpose of diffusing the claim that the Locke’s idea is inconsistent with the Christian Doctrine. Moreover, I also know that John Wynne, a bishop, wrote the Abridgement for the purpose of answering the ‘vulgar’. The religious ‘angle’ cannot be denied. Locke’s work was still concerned with the hottest topic of the time: epistemology. In the face of growing tension between ‘Natural Philosophy’ and the Christian Doctrine stood Locke’s Essay that was bang in the middle. It was able to reconcile a new age epistemology with the Christian Doctrine. The religious aspect is, if not the biggest contributor to the Essay‘s success, is till a contributor.
Walting states, “One of the reasons that his [Locke’s] philosophies were so popular was that he supported innate rationality over external authority” (187). I wish to note that he seems to be supporting the first theory: Could the popularity be solely driven by Locke’s ideas? I think to state that would be a part-answer, if not the wrong answer, to the question regarding Locke’s popularity. It is Locke’s ability to offer new ideas within the framework of the Christian Doctrine that I think has caused his success.
Here is a quotation by Rivers who writes an article about ‘Religion and Literature’ for Cambridge History: “Though Locke’s Essay was perceived in many quarters on first publication to be dangerous to religion, after the early accusation had subsided he was widely relied on by both churchmen and dissenters throughout the eighteenth century as a supporter of Christianity and an opponent of freethinkers” (452).
So far the answer seems to be that a mix of ‘the Essay being religiously appropriate’ and ‘the ideas were new’. However, the Enlightenment was also the age of the growth of Science, and the biggest name was that of Newton’s. How can I ignore that Locke and Newton communicated a lot, since the Biography entry states, “…but Locke kept in touch with Newton, the two corresponding mostly on problems of biblical interpretation.” The Biography entry also states, while referring to the Essay, “Locke was seen as having given a plain unmetaphysical account of the workings of the human mind that could serve as a complement to Newton’s account of the physical universe.” Although I cannot definitively state that Locke’s relation with Newton was a contributing factor, I cannot rule it out either.
The information points to a mixed answer, but how does this relate to all the information we have about the book? I think that the edition of the book tells us that it wasn’t just the higher class that were buying Locke’s Essay.
Let’s think with the information we have. Religious heads are concerned about the challenge that ‘Natural Philosophy’ has posed to their authority. They use Locke’s Essay to comfort the concerned devotees during Mass or in person. Religious heads, I would imagine, were held in high regard by the people. Their recommendations would be taken seriously. The Churchills publish the fifth edition of the book with footnotes that alleviate any anti-religious concerns regarding the book. Maybe the publishers see that more people want to buy the book and they decide to make it more portable by publishing an octavo edition (the sixth one). It seems that the middle-class buying this book could also be a contributing factor to the success of the book. The middle-class person I imagine buying the book gets it bound like our copy was (not too expensive). It also cannot be denied that when a book is gaining success and is being recommended by religious heads, not owning it could be a sign of being ‘un-cultured’. Just like people today try and keep Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time up for display for everyone to see, something similar could have happened to Locke’s Essay. Now such a theory would not be mere conjecture because Locke’s Essay is dealing with what is causing people’s perception of the world to completely change. There is a lot of pressure on the basic beliefs of the people because the ‘natural philosophers’ (=’scientists’) of the time. Locke can serve to take the pressure off by allowing people to maintain their beliefs and still have access to a new way of thinking that is consistent with the rise of Science. No matter how I cut it, it always comes back to Locke’s ability to offer an epistemology consistent with the Christian Doctrine.
In conclusion, the answer is not a definitive one. The book’s popularity could have been because of all of the theories contributing to its success, but I have argued that the book being religiously appropriate was a huge factor in its popularity and success.
That is all!
Dammit! Didn’t have a good segue into references.