John Locke 
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding 

Laid out in four books, ’An Essay Concerning Human Understanding’ is John Locke’s exposition on the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. In the first and second books Locke begins by rejecting the notion of innate ideas proposed by Descartes and proposes instead that humans are born as blank slates and that all knowledge is derived from experience. The discussion is continued in books three and four with a discussion of the theory as it relates to language, intuition, mathematics, moral philosophy, natural philosophy, faith, and opinion. A compelling and important philosophical work, ’An Essay Concerning Human Understanding’ is a must read for all students of philosophy.