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Masham's Discourse was written partly in response to John Norris's Practical Discourses upon Several Divine Subjects (1693), and to Norris's correspondence with Mary Astell published in Letters Concerning the Love of God (1695). Norris and Astell held that God is the efficient (i.e. true) cause of all human feelings, and thus must be the sole object of human love. Masham takes issue with this, attacking its implication that God's creatures are unsuitable objects of human love. Occasional Thoughts is more practical, focusing on the nature of education to virtue. Its thesis is that the pursuit of virtue should be grounded on a rational commitment to sound religious principles, derived from a critical education. Masham argues vigorously for the education of both women and men on religious, social, and moral grounds. James G. Buickerood's introduction argues that Lady Masham should be seen as an independent thinker of stature, not (as she sometimes is) as a mere mouthpiece for Cudworth and Locke.