Locke on Primary and Secondary Qualities
For Locke, idea is the immediate object of perception or whatever the mind perceives in itself. The power to produce any idea in our mind is a quality of the object endowed with that power. For example, a snowball has the power to produce in our minds the ideas of white, cold, and round. It […]
Locke on Solidity
According to John Locke, solidity is an idea that we receive by our touch. It is the most constant idea obtained from sensation. For instance, a moving or resting man always feels something under him that supports him. The floor resists to the entrance of man’s body into the place the floor possesses. When staying […]
Locke on Innate Knowledge
In an Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke rejects innate principles in the mind. He argues that men may acquire all the knowledge they have barely by the use of their natural faculties and without the help of any innate ideas. Locke sets down the following arguments that undermine the notion of innate knowledge. Universal […]
Berkeley and Locke on Abstract Ideas
The main argument that Berkeley discloses in the introduction of a “Treatise” is that abstractionism is illusionary and inaccessible. In this context, Berkeley is criticizing Locke for his attempt to frame abstract notions that lead us to uncertainty and doubtfulness. Locke introduces abstraction as one of the operations of mind, along with compounding, comparing, memory […]
Descartes’ necessary condition of knowledge
Descartes is skeptical about the truth of one’s beliefs. He develops the following argument: 1) If I am to know that I am sitting by the fire (P), then I must know that I am not dreaming that I am sitting by the fire (Q) P → Q 2) I cannot know that I am […]