From Descartes to Locke: Toward the Unity of Knowledge

The main focus of this paper is to demonstrate that René Descartes and John Locke were two opposing thinkers notably in their theories of knowledge. But despite their opposing views, our major preoccupation in this work is to show their point of unity. This could be seen at the level where they were preoccupied in restoring the autonomy of man which has been high jacked by the slavery of the medieval period. Their thoughts paved the way from theocentrism to anthropocentrism. They were also united in the fact that they have been considered as the pillars of modern epistemology. Our inspiration is being drawn notably from two principal works which are Meditations on First Philosophy (Descartes) and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (John Locke).