The Significance of Locke's ‘Matter of Reason’ :

Locke, the authors of La Logique ou L'art de Penser and Pascal on Reason and Faith

Abstract

The similarity between Locke and contemporary French thinkers is that both assert that the realm in which reason should play an active role must be distinguished from that in which things can be considered as a matter of faith. The difference between them, on the other hand, lies in their views on the traditional revelation based on the authority of the church: Locke considers the revelation to be a matter of reason because it relies only on the words that lead to the probable interpretation, while the French thinkers treat it as a matter of faith because they believe the authority to be entirely decisive. Thus, this paper is an attempt to reveal the significance of Locke's matter of reason as contradistinguished from his matter of faith.