A History of Philosophy | 41 John Locke
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A History of Philosophy | 41 John Locke
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John Locke represents the beginning of philosophical Enlightenment by grounding all knowledge in sense experience rather than innate ideas, establishing an empiricist epistemology where the mind is a blank slate and ideas originate exclusively from external and internal sensation.
- Locke's rejection of innate ideas (contra Plato and Descartes) means all knowledge derives from sensory experience and reflection
- The distinction between simple and complex ideas, and between primary and secondary qualities, provides the mechanism by which sensation produces knowledge
- Locke's empiricism reflects both Enlightenment emphasis on reason and scientific method while maintaining theological justification through God as guarantor of sensory reliability
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The Enlightenment is characterized not only by the light of reason in thinking but also by the rule of reason in living — that is, the idea that when we are ruled by reason we are freed from other causal conditions and compulsions, whereas acting out of emotional impulse means we are driven and not free.
“it's not only the age of the light of reason it's also the age of the rule of reason that is to say the rule of reason not only in our thinking but in our living there all of reason in our living and so the the idea is that when were ruled by reason we are freed from other causal conditions if we act that is to say out of impulse emotional impulse we're not free driven”
The Enlightenment was skeptical of tradition and authority, and frequently gave no place to revelation; where Christians participated in the Enlightenment and discussed revelation, it was treated as an add-on supplementary to reason rather than as an underlying perspective that helps us understand the rest.
“the enlightenment then with its emphasis on reason was skeptical of tradition skeptical of Authority frequently gave no place to revelation insofar as there were Christians participating in the enlightenment and therefore talking about revelation it's more of an add-on something in addition to what we know by reason alone rather an add-on then an underlying perspective that helps us understand the rest”
Romanticism reacted against Enlightenment Rationalism by reverting to the freedom of emotion and the creative genius, idealizing freedom as emotional self-expression rather than detached rational deliberation.
“in the reaction against that Aptus ISM about the light of Reason you know the rejection of the rule of Reason yeah that developed in romanticism in the early 19th century where romanticism revert to the freedom of the of the emotion the creative genius who idealizes what freedom is like”
Locke applies the Newtonian atomistic model of particles of matter combined and moved according to fixed laws to three domains: his theory of ideas (simple ideas combined according to fixed laws of association), his psychology, and his social philosophy (social atoms/individuals joining together according to laws of a social contract).
“he's in the spirit of the Enlightenment very much part of that scientific age personal friend of Isaac Newton picks up on the Newtonian model of particles of matter and applies it to his theory of ideas as we'll see and his social philosophy the physical universe you have indivisible particles of matter atoms combined and moved according to fixed laws equals simple ideas combined according to fixed laws of association in his social philosophy he has social atoms individuals join together according to laws of a social contract yeah he has the same atomistic model as Newton head in his physics he had his in his psychology his epistemology is social philosophy very much the same”
On page 168, Locke accounts for the universal idea of God by arguing that the visible marks of extraordinary wisdom and power appear plainly in creation, such that any rational creature reflecting seriously on them cannot miss discovering a deity — a position that paraphrases Romans 1 and reflects Puritan/Calvinist theology about natural knowledge of God.
“at the very top of 168 that there is see such an idea is deducible from every part of knowledge idea of God for the visible marks of Extra Ordinary wisdom and power appear so plainly in all the book of the creation that a rational creature who will but seriously reflect on them cannot miss the discovery of a deity that's simply a paraphrase of Romans 1”
Simple ideas have the characteristic of being clear and distinct (echoing Descartes), but for Locke they are not innate or intuitive — they are given to us through sensation and are passively received rather than actively intuited.
“the characteristic of simple ideas is that they must be clear and distinct that sound familiar clear and distinct but they're not innate they're not intuitive clear and distinct”
If knowledge claims require scientific-like proofs of external reality (bodies, other minds, God), and such proofs cannot be obtained, then all that remains is not knowledge but opinions and beliefs about those matters.
“or if you can't get those proofs then all that you have is not knowledge but opinions beliefs and when David Hume becomes skeptical he therefore raises questions about knowledge of bodies knowledge of other minds knowledge of God knowledge even if one on one's own mind”
David Hume is a radical philosophical skeptic who is skeptical about the possibility of achieving objective knowledge with certainty in the Enlightenment sense, and develops in its place an account of how belief arises and seems to be justified as distinct from that dogmatic kind of knowledge.
“when we get to David Hume we'll find that he is rarely a philosophical skeptic he's skeptical about that kind of enlightenment knowledge objective with certainty yes he's skeptical about the right possibility of that and develops in its place an account of how belief arises and seems to be justified as distinct from that dogmatic kind of knowledge”
Locke distinguishes between ideas of primary qualities and ideas of secondary qualities (pages 178-181): secondary qualities (smell, taste, color, sound, texture) are associated with different sense organs and are produced in us but have no objective reality in external things; primary qualities (size, shape, weight, density) are objective properties of material bodies that produce sensations through causal influence.
“we have to distinguish ideas of primary qualities from ideas of secondary qualities and he elaborates that on pages 178 to 181 the secondary qualities simply the qualities associated with our different sense organs smell taste color sound texture as such they are the qualities they are because of the way our sense organs operate they are produced in us but have no objective reality there are mental ways of representing physical things physical things which have primary qualities primary qualities being the qualities of matter in Newtonian science size shape wage density and primary quality material bodies have the capacity to produce in us secondary qualities sensations by cause-effect influence”
John Locke, with emphasis on rights to life, liberty, and property, and other theories of rights developed in the Enlightenment, form the foundation of French and American political heritage; the rule of laws governed by Constitution represents the rule of Reason.
“john rock with his emphasis on the rights to life liberty and property and other theories of rights that are the foundation of the french political heritage of course the american political heritage our political system is essentially a product of the Enlightenment very much so the rule of laws governed by Constitution represents the rule of Reason”
The Enlightenment was opposed to dogmatic systems; the big system builders like Descartes and Spinoza belong to the early 17th century rather than 18th century Enlightenment because those system builders claimed a kind of systematic knowledge which could not be established by scientific means alone.
“this was an age very much opposed to dogmatic systems which is why the big system builders Descartes Spinoza likeness the early 17th century rather than 18th century enlightenment people because those system builders claimed a kind of systematic knowledge which could not be established by scientific means alone”
Locke makes a distinction between opinion and knowledge as a reshaping of the Platonic distinction, where knowledge must be objective, certain, and scientifically and logically guaranteed, while opinion is different; and recommends we ought to regulate our assent and moderate our persuasions through understanding these bounds.
“he talks about searching for the bounds between Oh pinion and knowledge between Oh pinion and knowledge now that's an old platonic distinction that he reshapes and introduces into the Enlightenment knowledge has to be objective has to be certain has to be scientifically and logically guaranteed opinion that's something different and it's by means of this that he says we ought to regulate our ascent and moderate our persuasions”
Ideas come from both internal and external senses; the external senses are the five familiar sensory modalities, while the internal sense involves reflection on our own mental states, including reflection on blueness as an afterimage and reflection on mental acts like thinking, wishing, and believing.
“we get ideas from both the internal and the external senses you know about the five external senses the internal is simply reflection on our own mental states so I can reflect on my own ideas that I have reflect on the blueness that I have as an afterimage in my mind I can reflect on my own mental acts like thinking wishing believing the various other kinds of activities that Descartes put into his khajit oh”
Locke's position sets up the foundation for Berkeley to make radical changes to empiricism and Hume to reject major elements of it, showing how Locke represents a crucial but unstable philosophical position.
“you see Locke as the beginning of the Enlightenment and what he does in these pages really sets it up for Berkeley to make radical changes and Hume to ditch the whole thing”
Enlightenment ethics developed theories concerned with knowing principles and rules that enable us to know what is the right thing to do with the same kind of detached objectivity and certainty that was claimed in science, rather than focusing on the good as an ideal toward which we strive.
“you find ethical theories developing which are concerned with knowing what is right when of many evils the concern was the good that is to say the ideal towards which we strive in seeking the highest court god but in the Enlightenment the emphasis on ethics is more on principles and rules that enable us to know what is the right thing to do after the same kind of detached objectivity and certainty in ethics as was claimed in science”
Locke defines 'idea' as whatever is the object of understanding when a man thinks; this reflects a Cartesian starting point where the mind is directly aware of its own ideas, and all we directly know are our ideas, requiring proof or demonstration to infer anything about external things like bodies, other minds, or God.
“he has a section labeled what idea the term idea in quotes stands for and you notice halfway through that paragraph he remarks that it stands for whatever is the object of understanding when a man thinks okay now what are you thinking about when you think ideas ideas you see this is des cartes kind of starting point what you have is the mind directly aware of its own ideas okay that's a starting and as it was for Descartes so it is for lot granted all we know is our ideas the question is can we infer anything further about external things like bodies like other minds like God and these things outside of our own mind have to be demonstrate it has to be proven”
Locke's argument against innate ideas follows a logical structure: if ideas are innate, they would be universally known; but there are no universal ideas about God and morality (evidenced by children, idiots, and cultural diversity); therefore, ideas are not innate.
“if knowledge is innate if ideas are innate they would be known universally but modus tollens there are no Universal ideas therefore conclusion ideas are not innate now he doesn't spell it out in exactly that form that's my logical construction of his argument if ideas are going to be innate they'll be universal there's no universal consensus about such ideas”
Knowledge consists in the addition or subtraction of ideas; when one says 'All humans are mortal,' one is making a judgment affirming a proposition where subject and predicate are different ideas, so knowledge refers to judgments one makes about ideas, requiring a theory of ideas before one can understand knowledge.
“notice the distinction between ideas and knowledge why is that well he makes the point that knowledge consists in the addition or subtraction of ideas so that if I say for instance Oh humans are mortal okay what I'm doing is making a judgment affirming a proposition in all knowledge consists of propositions and judgments that have subject predicate for now the subject and the predicate are different ideas so you have idea one an idea to the idea of humans yes it's a generalized idea okay the idea of mortality gets the idea of a certain contingent quality that there is to life it's a qualitative idea but obviously then we only have knowledge if we have ideas knowledge refers to the judgments you make about your ideas so he has to start with a theory of ideas”
The notion of mind substance—a substantive entity that thinks (what Descartes called res cogitans, thinking substance)—is philosophically in question, with different thinkers disagreeing about whether mind is a substance at all.
“it's that entertain t&v status the notion of a mind substance of a salt substance that's in question Descartes thought he proved it Locke agrees with Descartes he thinks you if you think you must be a thinking thing but human says I all I know is that all I know is a bundle of perceptions”
There is a trajectory from Renaissance emphasis on political liberties through Enlightenment individual rights to Romantic creative self-expression to existentialist absolute idealization of freedom, representing an increasing absolutization and idealization of the notion of individual freedom.
“what you get beginning in the Renaissance with the emphasis on political liberties what you get gradually is earning crease at solid to say absolute ization and idealization of the notion of individual freedom you see individual rights in the Enlightenment creative self-expression with the romanticism salute freedom of some of the existentialists like sod who absolute eise's freedom”
From a Judeo-Christian standpoint, justice (not freedom) is the highest of all social values, and freedom is only a subset of justice; however, the American ethos regards freedom as the highest of all values, which the speaker sees as a very pagan idea.
“it seems to me that there's a there's something running through the American ethos which regards freedom is the highest of all values it seems to me that's a very pagan idea from judeo-christian standpoint it's justice not freedom which is the highest all social values and freedom is just a subset of that but the the emphasis so often it's good politics is to talk about freedom rather than justice”
The terminal enlightenment refers to the light of Reason, understood in context as the light of scientific knowledge gained by objective scientific methods (whether inductive or deductive) and the kind of objectivity and conclusiveness that science claimed.
“the terminal lighten minh of course refers to the light of Reason which in that context means the light of scientific knowledge the light of knowledge gained by those objective scientific methods whether inductive or deductive at least with the kind of objectivity that science claimed and the kind of conclusiveness which science then claimed”
The philosophical Enlightenment is sometimes dated from 1690, marked by the publication of Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which represents the beginning of the philosophical enlightenment.
“sometimes dated from 1690 one which was the date of publication of his essay concerning human understanding sometimes sometimes that's taken to mark the beginning of the philosophical environment”
Cambridge Platonism was a 17th-century movement among Anglicans, primarily led by Richard Cudworth (died 1688), that opposed mechanistic views of nature and human nature (like those of Hobbes and Descartes) by reviving Platonic idealism and the theory of innate ideas as a response to materialism and Calvinist Puritan theology.
“Cambridge Platonism was the 17th century successor of that Renaissance Revival the principal figure in it amend the name of Richard cut was who died in 1688 and as you see from that was therefore a younger contemporary of John Locke it was a movement primarily among Anglicans in opposition to to other kinds of alternatives which they very much disliked one was the mechanistic view of nature including human nature in Thomas Hobbes and even for that matter in Descartes view of the physical world mechanistic science generally they were opposed and you'd expect that of a plate inist who as an idealist and this was Platonism with theory of emanations therefore more Neoplatonic in some regards it was an idealist metaphysic which rejected the view that matter is real and has real causal powers therefore rejected the view that causal stimulator the senses can produce ideas therefore reverted to the theory of innate ideas in opposition to materialism”
According to Locke, the consciousness or human mind is a blank tablet (tabula rasa) — like a blank piece of paper on which experience leaves marks — providing the foundational metaphor for how ideas originate through sensation.
“the claim that the consciousness the human mind verse is a blank tablet like a blank piece of paper tabula rasa like a blank piece of paper on which experience leaves marks”
Good politics often involves talking about freedom rather than justice as a pragmatic political strategy, reflecting the actual value hierarchy in American political discourse.
“the emphasis so often it's good politics is to talk about freedom rather than justice well”
Voltaire and the French philosophers (philosophes) were part of a group of philosophical skeptics about the possibility of knowledge, representing the Enlightenment's self-critical turn.
“figures like Voltaire or a group in France known as the philosophers or as the French word which still means the philosophers but I guess to distinguish it from other philosophers they're usually spoken of in English but the French term they fill a self group of philosophical skeptics about the possibility of knowledge”
John Locke is characterized by both Enlightenment spirit and Puritan heritage; his father was a signatory of the Westminster Confession of Faith, the classic Presbyterian document of the counter-reformation 17th century, and this theological background influences his philosophical work.
“he has a Puritan heritage his father was one of the signatories of the Westminster Confession of faith the classic Presbyterian document of the counter-reformation 17th century and something of that comes through”
Locke explicitly states at the opening of the Essay Concerning Human Understanding that understanding sets man above other sentient beings and gives him all the advantage and dominion he has over them, combining Enlightenment rationality with Puritan-Reformed emphasis on human dominion over creation.
“this an inquiry into the understanding its pleasant and useful since it is understanding that sets man above the rest of sensory beings conscious beings and gives him all the advantage and dominion that he has over them certainly a subject even for its nobleness worth our labor to inquire into”
Locke uses the metaphor of light (referring to the light of reason) when discussing method, indicating how Enlightenment terminology and conceptual frameworks permeate even his methodological discussions.
“yes a towards the end of that paragraph he refers to all the light we can LED in upon our own minds the light interesting figure of speech again the light of reason”