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Reflection, Nature, and Moral Law: The Extent of Catharine Cockburn's Lockeanism in her Defence of Mr. Locke's Essay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Patricia Sheridan
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Abstract

This essay examines Catharine Cockburn's moral philosophy as it is developed in her Defence of Mr. Locke's Essay on Human Understanding. In this work, Cockburn argues that Locke's epistemological principles provide a foundation for the knowledge of natural law. Sheridan suggests that Cockburn's objective in defending Locke's moral epistemology was conditioned by her own prior commitment to a significantly un-Lockean theory of morality. In exploring Cockburn's views on morality in terms of their divergence from Locke's, the author hopes to underscore the extent of Cockburn's intellectual independence and her philosophical creativity.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , Summer 2007 , pp. 133 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by Hypatia, Inc.

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