Yolton’s book opens with an attempt to sort out several important terms basic to Locke’s account of identity: man, self, person, and soul. A number of rarely examined components of Locke’s thought emerge: the nature of man, the nature of a human being, and the place of man in the universe among the other creatures. Some will be surprised to learn that the domain of God, angels, and spirits is a part of Locke’s universe, where it is considered the hoped-for destination of the just.
The Two Intellectual Worlds of John Locke also includes Yolton’s exploration of Locke’s commitment to immaterial principles for understanding the world; his obsession with happiness; the dialectical tensions between man, person, and soul; several interesting conjectures about spirits; and the notion of natural philosophy that includes speculation about spirits as well as bodies.
