An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Vol. 1

First appearing in 1689 (though dated 1690), An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding concerns the foundation of human knowledge and understanding, in which Locke describes the mind at birth as a blank slate filled later through experience. This essay was one of the principal sources of empiricism in modern philosophy, and has influenced many enlightenment philosophers, from David Hume to George Berkeley. Book One is Locke's attempt to refute the rationalist notion of innate ideas.