Molyneux problem

References and further reading

	Ayers, M.R. (1991) Locke, London: Routledge, 2 vols; repr. as Locke. Epistemology and Ontology, 1993. (Locke’s response to the Molyneux problem is discussed in the context of an extensive examination of Locke’s notion of an idea.)
	Berkeley, G. (1709) ‘An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision’, in Philosophical Works, intro. and notes M.R. Ayers, London, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, Everyman’s Library, 1989: 3–59. (Berkeley’s first work in which he expounds his theory of vision, which is the foundation for the idealist philosophy he developed in his later works. In this work he discusses and refers to Molyneux’s Dioptrica Nova.)
	Brandt Bolton, M. (1994) ‘The Real Molyneux Question and the Basis of Locke’s Answer’, in G.A.J. Rogers (ed.) Locke’s Philosophy: Content and Context, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 75–99. (Establishes the importance of situating the Molyneux problem within the context of seventeenth-century theories of vision.)
	Degenaar, M. (1996) The Problem of Molyneux, Dordrecht: Reidel. (A discussion of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century – and more recent – responses to the Molyneux problem, with emphasis on empirical attempts to settle the question; extensive bibliography.)
	Diderot, D. (1749) Lettre sur les aveugles; trans. as The Letter on the Blind for the Benefit of Those Who See, Albuquerque, NM: American Classical Collection Press, 1983. (A fascinating work arguing that being blind affects not only a person’s sight but also their metaphysical, religious and moral convictions.)
	Evans, G. (1985) ‘Molyneux’s Question’, in Collected Papers, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 364–399. (Argues convincingly that the heart of the Molyneux problem is whether the spatial concepts possessed by the blind are identical to those possessed by the sighted.)
	Leibniz, G. W. (1765) New Essays on Human Understanding, trans. and ed. P. Remnant and J. Bennett, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. (A commentary on Locke’s Essay, unpublished in Leibniz’s lifetime, which contains an excellent treatment of the Molyneux problem on pages 136–8).
	Locke, J. (1688) ‘Essai philosophique concernant l’Entendement où l’on montre quelle est l’étendue des connaissances certaines, et la manière dont nous y parvenons’, Bibliothèque Universelle et Historique, January–March: 49–142, Amsterdam, ed. J. Le Clerc. (Locke’s first major publication in the journal of his Swiss friend Jean Le Clerc, whom he met in The Netherlands. It is a substantial abridgement of his as yet unpublished Essay concerning Human Understanding and often referred to with the term Abrégé, because it was later republished separately and translated into English in 1692 as an extract of a book entitled A Philosophical Essay upon Human Understanding.)
	Locke, J. (1689) Essay concerning Human Understanding, ed. P.H. Nidditch, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985. (Locke’s magnum opus, breathtaking in its scope and depth, still worth consulting on every topic it discusses. The second edition appeared in 1694.)
	Molyneux, W. (1688) Letter to Locke of 7 July 1688, in E.S. de Beer (ed.) The Correspondence of John Locke, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978, vol. 3, 482, letter no. 1064.
	Molyneux, W. (1692) Dioptrica Nova, London: Benjamin Tooke. (A treatise in the tradition of similar works by Kepler and Descartes, which is mainly devoted to the physical aspects of optics, containing also several remarks on the psychology of vision.)
	Synge, E. (1695) The Correspondence of John Locke, vol. 5, ed. E.S. de Beer, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974. (Letter 1984 (pages 494–6) from Molyneux to Locke, quotes in full the interesting letter by Synge – later Archbishop of Tuam – which anticipates several later objections to Locke’s reply.)