Empiricism
| John Locke (1632-1704) | |
| Theory of Knowledge | Locke defines knowledge as the perception of an agreement (or disagreement) between ideas (4.1. 2). This definition of knowledge fits naturally, if not exclusively, within an account of a- priori knowledge. Such knowledge relies solely on a reflection of our ideas; we can know it is true just by thinking about it. |
| Substance and Qualities | Locke accepts Mind and God as substance with Matter. Mind – According to Locke we get the knowledge of mind through reflection. The primary qualities of Mind are thinking, the ability to initiate movement and willing. With the qualities of perceiving, thinking, memory, willing we assume Mind as unknown substratum. |
| Self & God | Locke recognizes three substances: God, finite intelligences, and bodies. These are building blocks that compose all types of things, and so occupy a central place in the determination of identity conditions. |
| Scepticism | The label ‘sensitive knowledge’ is introduced to cover our grasp of the existence of the particular outer objects we encounter in experience. This choice of label in fact makes Locke a bold anti‐skeptic: in his system, knowledge, unlike mere judgment, entails certainty (4.14. 4). |
| George Berkeley(1685-1753) | |
| Theory of Knowledge | Berkeley argues that two unlike substances cannot causally act on each other. After establishing that we only perceive sensible things, and that sensible things are all mind-dependent, he concludes that there can only be one substance – that of ideas or the mind. |
| Substance and Qualities | Berkeley was an immaterialist. He held that there are no material substances. There are only finite mental substances and an infinite mental substance, namely, God. |
| Self & God | Berkeley on the Self -since I never have any direct perceptual experience of my mind or myself, but only of various particular perceptual qualities or operations of the mind, I cannot be said to have any idea of my mind or myself. Deist conception of God was held by Newton and many others (including many of the key founders of our country like Jefferson and Franklin). According to this view, God created the universe with great precision and order like a vast clockwork, set it in motion, but then stood back and allowed it to run on its own. Berkeley wanted to defend a more traditional Christian conception of God as a personal God who not only designed the universe but continually keeps it going through His continuous presence. , he attempts to counter the Deist conception of God with his subjective idealism. When the tree History of Modern Philosophy Berkeley—tree falls in the forest, does it not make a sound, or even not exist, if no one is around to perceive it? If we all walk out of this room, does it somehow vanish from existence? Berkeley’s answer to the apparent absurdity of his subjective idealism is to argue that, yes, to be is to be perceived, but the tree does exist and does make a sound even if no human being is around to perceive it, and the room doesn’t vanish when we all walk out of the room because God is there as the eternal perceiver.Thus God’s existence is necessary to the continuous existence of the world. |
| Scepticism | Our idea of material objects is a combination of their sensible qualities, not necessarily their actual qualities • If that is the case, we cannot know the true nature of objects or the universe. |
| David Hume(1711-1776) | |
| Theory of Knowledge | Hume’s doctrine of “transcendental idealism” held that all theoretical (i.e., scientific) knowledge is a mixture of what is given in sense experience and what is contributed by the mind. The contributions of the mind are necessary conditions for having any sense experience at all. |
| Substance and Qualities | The idea of substance was famously critiqued by David Hume, who held that since substance cannot be perceived, it should not be assumed to exist. |
| Self & God | Hume also claims that we never directly apprehend the self. Unlike Descartes, he concludes from this that there is no substantial self. In a famous passage, Hume uses introspective awareness to show that the self is a non-substantial “bundle” of perceptions. Hume believes that concept of God is unattainable through senses. |
| Scepticism | True knowledge is unattainable |
Drop your thoughts below!