Empiricism and Locke's Theory of Knowledge

Flashcards based on lecture notes about Empiricism and John Locke's Theory of Knowledge.

Empiricism

The philosophical view that reliable knowledge about the world comes only from experience.

Experience

According to Locke, this is where all our knowledge is founded and from which it ultimately derives itself.

Sensation

The source of ideas that depends wholly upon our senses, derived by them to the understanding.

Reflection

The source of ideas the mind gets by reflecting on its own operations within itself.

Examples of Ideas coming from Reflection

Ideas such as perception, thinking, doubting, believing, reasoning, knowing and willing.

John Locke

Considered the father of British empiricism.

Epistemology

The theory of knowledge.

Knowledge

Locke's philosophical project was to enquire into the origin, certainty, and extent of human __.

Tabula Rasa

Locke's concept that the mind is like a blank slate at birth.

Ideas

According to Locke, these are the contents of the mind.

Sensations

External stimulation (light, sound, textures etc.) triggers the senses to form different _.

Simple Ideas

Simple perceptions of color, sound, smell, texture, weight, temperature etc..

Complex Ideas

When the mind observes its own operations and acts upon the ideas it has acquired (by recollecting, associating, doubting, believing, affirming, denying etc.), it forms .

Locke's assurance of reality outside experience

An assertion that simple ideas point to a real world outside perception.

Primary Qualities

Qualities that are in the objects themselves such as extension, motion, size or number.

Secondary Qualities

Qualities that are produced in us through sensation such as colour, temperature, texture, odour, sound, and taste.

Substances

Specific objects such as the idea of your father or mother, the idea of your dog or the book that you are currently reading.

Modes

A mode or feature found in an object, for instance, a triangular building or a grateful person.

Ideas of Relation

Enable us to compare things – for instance, a golden ring is heavier than a rose petal.

Abstract Ideas

Ideas that are created by the mind from simple ideas (perceptions) by a process of omission.

Intuitive Knowledge

The direct recognition of the agreement or disagreement of any two ideas without the mediation of another.

Demonstrative Knowledge

When the agreement of ideas is not intuitively perceived, it can be demonstrated by going through the steps needed to establish it.

Sensitive Knowledge

The assurance we have of the existence of external objects causing us to have simple ideas.