How a self-taught philosopher became the intellectual defender of John Locke

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Catharine Trotter Cockburn was a prolific 18th-century dramatist and philosopher who defied the limitations placed on women of her era. Despite having only a modest formal education, she taught herself Latin and French, eventually becoming a respected, independent voice who defended John Locke’s work against his most vocal critics.

Born in London in 1674 or 1679, Catharine Trotter Cockburn navigated a life defined by financial instability and intellectual ambition. Following her father’s death in 1684, she relied on her own talents and social connections to survive. By age 14, she was already publishing novels, and by 1698, her play Fatal Friendship had established her as a prominent playwright. Her work often explored moral philosophy, a field she approached with the conviction that reason, a faculty bestowed by God, allowed individuals to discover moral principles independently.

Trotter’s philosophical career was marked by her staunch defense of John Locke. In 1702, she published a defense of his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which earned her Locke’s personal friendship and financial support. Her intellectual rigor was such that even after a long hiatus from publishing, she returned to public controversy in the 1740s to defend Locke’s principles against Dr. Rutherford and Dr. Holdsworth. Her later correspondence shows a deep engagement with the works of Bishop Butler, whom she admired for his profound understanding of human nature.

Despite her achievements, Trotter’s reputation fluctuated over the centuries. Her biographer, Thomas Birch, posthumously published her collected works in 1751, but he omitted several of her plays and ignored her early fiction, potentially skewing historical perception. Feminist critics have recently sought to reclaim her legacy, noting how her gender influenced both her work and the reception of her ideas. Trotter herself was acutely aware of the barriers facing women who entered the male-dominated sphere of philosophy and literature, often reflecting on these constraints in her own writings.

Trotter died on May 11, 1749, in Longhorsley, leaving behind a legacy that spanned theology, moral philosophy, and drama. Her life was characterized by a relentless pursuit of knowledge, even when her fragile health and lack of resources presented significant obstacles. Today, she is remembered not only as a defender of Locke but as a thinker who successfully integrated moral sense, conscience, and the essential differences of things into a cohesive foundation for moral practice.

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