Observation of the causal regularities in nature enables us...

Observation of the causal regularities in nature enables us to secure our survival and comfort, "ease, safety, and delight," during this life. What is more, evaluation of our moral conduct in the light of our accountability to God for the actions we perform provides amply for our hope of a better existence beyond this life.

Limited though it may be, Locke supposed, the human capacity for knowledge is sufficient for our happiness here and hereafter, and since that is that is our primary concern, it would be pointless to demand that our faculties reach any further. [King, pp. 86-92] A Simple Preview A year before the first edition was published, Locke wrote an "Abstract of the Essay." Translated into French by his friend Jean le Clerc, this…