16 FEBRUARY 1918, Page 17

Locke's Theory of _Knowledge and its Historical Relations. By James

Gibson. (Cambridge University Press. 10s. 6d. net.)— Professor Gibson's admirably written treatise gives a new view of the principles of Locke's famous Essay concern- ing Human Understanding, elucidating it by comparison with Locke's English precursors as well as with Descartes, Leibnitz, and Kant. " In proclaiming the possibility and necessity of undertaking an investigation of knowledge, prior to and independently of the attempt to determine the nature of real being, Locke introduced a new point of view into philosophy." Professor Gibson remarks caustically that Locke's classic work still suffers from the assumption that it can be understood without being studied. His own book will send a good many readers to Locke.