The concept of a personal identity was a contentious issue in the early eighteenth century. John Locke s philosophical discussion of personal identity in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding fostered a public debate upon the status of an immortal Christian soul. This book argues that Defoe, like many of this age, had religious difficulties with Locke s empiricist analysis of human identity. In particular, it examines how Defoe explores competitive individualism as a social threat while also demonstrating the literary and psychological fiction of any concept of a separated, lone...
The concept of a personal identity was a contentious issue in the early eighteenth century. John Locke s philosophical discussion of personal ident...
