John Locke (1632 – 1704) was an English philosopher whose works greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. As an empiricist, Locke rejects rationalistic claim that we have innate ideas of God, and, consequently, he defends that we have no innate knowledge. In particular, all of our simple and complex ideas are gained through sensation ( five senses) and reflection (our mind’s own operations of thinking). So, knowledge is the perception of the agreement, or disagreement of our 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 […]
