lec 12 lec 8

Overview of Locke's Essay, Book Four

• Lecture discusses key themes and concepts in John Locke’s fourth book of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.

• Emphasis on Locke’s account of knowledge and his proof of God’s existence.

Locke vs. Descartes

• Both philosophers attempt to prove God’s existence, but Locke views it differently.

• Descartes uses God's nature to guarantee the reliability of beliefs (God as a non-deceiver).

• Locke’s proof serves no epistemological role; it doesn’t ground ordinary knowledge.

Understanding Knowledge

• Knowledge, according to Locke, is about the agreement of ideas.

• Agreement indicates how ideas relate to one another.

• Central thesis: Knowledge involves discerning relations between ideas.

  • Types of Agreement:

    • Identity/Diversity:

      • Ability to distinguish one idea from another (‘brute’ ability without deeper explanation).

    • Relation tied to the essence of ideas.

    • Relation (Entailment):

      • Logical relationships where one belief follows from another.

      • Extends beyond math to ethics, politics, and religion.

    • Coexistence:

      • Relations concerning physical substances and their qualities (e.g., properties of gold).

      • Inquiry into real essence vs. nominal essence raises issues regarding knowledge validity.

      • Locke’s acknowledgment of limitations and human assumption plays role here.

    • Real Existence:

      • Ideas correspond to real objects in the world, yet challenging since one end of the relation is not purely ideas.

Modes of Knowledge

• Intuition:

  • Immediate understanding of truth (e.g., mathematical truths).

• Demonstration:

  • Knowledge derived from a sequence of clear, logical steps that can be complex.

  • Though reliant on memory, creates ambivalence about its certainty compared to intuition.

• Sensation:

  • Controversial as a source of knowledge; Locke seems divided on its epistemological status.

  • Locke dismisses radical skepticism (e.g., dreaming) regarding sensory perceptions.

Locke’s Proof of God’s Existence

• Based on two principles:

  • ”Nothing can come from nothing” and the need for equal reality in cause and effect.

  • Critique of sources of existence and our understanding of nothingness in modern physics.

Critique of Locke’s Concept of Ideas

• His understanding of ideas includes both sensory data and concepts, drawing criticism for conflating them.

• Rorty highlights a deeper problem of connecting causation with justification in knowledge claims.

• Knowledge perceived as a relation between persons and objects rather than propositions (leaning on Aristotelian concepts).

Confusion Between Knowledge Types

• Difficulty synthesizing a knowledge of ideas with a judgment about those ideas (i.e., knowledge as simple possession of an idea vs. formed justified judgments).

• Kant critiques this confusion as a central error in empiricism (Locke’s fundamental mistake).

Intentionality and Aboutness

• The central philosophical issue of how ideas can refer to external realities or other concepts (the problem of intentionality).

• Raises concerns regarding how words and ideas relate meaningfully to their referents.

• Emphasizes the challenge for empiricism and other philosophical traditions in articulating this relationship.