Listen to the Episode HERE

“Lazy Student”

Access the link for the ‘Ep 9 Listen Along Guide’/Worksheet, that will help you to digest the ideas and content covered in this episode.

“Engaged Student”

To get to grips with some of the key concepts watch this ‘School of Life’ video,  download and complete the John Locke School of Life Worksheet I prepared to keep you focused. When you’ve done all that, go back and test yourself with the John Locke “Key Thinker Quiz“!!!

“Ambitious Student”

To dig deeper into the key concepts try downloading the revision notes here: John Locke Revision Notes with Case Study  These notes also include the details of the case study of Thomas Reid mentioned in the ‘Students Strike Back’ section of the podcast. Or you could find out more by reading this article from the about the case: Irish Independent. Watch the trailer to the documentary made about the events here and a discussion from one of the film makers here.

The film itself is available to rent or buy from Amazon (perhaps somewhat ironically!). Find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lonely-Battle-Thomas-Reid/dp/B07WNY59W1

From the Horse’s Mouth

Why not dip your toe in and read a little of the original work by Locke himself, rather than commentary from somebody else? A good place to start is Locke’s “Letter On Toleration” (1686). It’s short, but the ideas are quite accessible and should be familiar to you having listened to the episode. The sentences are much longer than you would be used to, so you need to be concentrating properly before you get stuck into the text. It was originally composed in Latin, but was translated into English and published about 3 years after the initial letter was drafted.

Breaking News (kind of…!). Yes, I know that John Locke has been dead for well over 300 years, but we’re still finding out new things about him and his scholarship! A previously unknown manuscript from Locke, called “Reasons for Tolerating Papists Equally with others” (1689) (‘Papists’ meaning Catholics in this context), was only discovered as recently as 2019. It follows on nicely from the Letter On Toleration, and is worth a look for the highly motivated Pol-Soc Student, particularly given how central the idea of ‘toleration’ is to Kwame Anthony Appiah’s idea of Cosmopolitanism in our study of Identity! The link above is to a fascinating from the Smithsonian Magazine gives insights into not just the new discover itself, but also tells the fascinating tale of how it was ‘rediscovered’ having been unknown of for so long! I found it absolutely fascinating!!!