{"id":4030,"date":"2013-06-21T11:22:47","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T11:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2019\/08\/18\/1686-revision-v1\/"},"modified":"2019-09-27T00:55:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T00:55:21","slug":"lockes-theory-of-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/06\/21\/lockes-theory-of-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"Locke&#8217;s theory of knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"padding: 2px 6px 4px; color: #555555; background-color: #eeeeee; border: 2px solid #dddddd; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Editorial notes<\/strong>:<br \/>\n<em>Shai documents his interpretation of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/06\/21\/lockes-theory-of-knowledge\/\">Locke\u2019s Theory of Knowledge<\/a><a href=\"#_ftnI\" name=\"_ftnrefI\"><sup>[I]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0which, he explains, \u201cis famous for being based on the principle that the mind is a blank slate\u201d and that the mind is \u201cgaining everything it knows by experience\u201d. The need to acquire experience in order to gain knowledge is a principle by which Shai chose to live his life. Knowing now that this was his guiding view, makes many of his actions and decisions over the years easier to comprehend.<br \/>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\nOne other thing to note is the introduction of the term\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/meta-data-categories\/meta\/\">\u201cMeta\u201d<\/a>. This is the first of 20 times that Shai uses this term. I struggled for some time to fully understand his intent in introducing this term but believe that the \u201cMeta\u201d paragraphs represent his thoughts about his own thoughts, and his reflections about his own method of research. True to his phenomenological journey, Shai places his own experiences at the core of his observations, at a level very much similar to that which he assigns the subjects of his observations.<br \/>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\nThis Essay was found as a &#8216;draft&#8217; entry in Everything<sub>2<\/sub> and it is evidently incomplete. It is published here with minor changes.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Meta: Below are a few approaches plus segments I&#8217;m trialling.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Locke&#8217;s theory of knowledge is famous for being based on the principle that the mind is a blank slate, gaining everything it knows by experience. The details are a bit trickier, involving various distinctions and philosophical jargon. Here&#8217;s one way of breaking it down:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The corpuscular matter<\/strong>\u00a0has\u00a0<b>qualities<\/b>, some of which have the power to affect our\u00a0<strong>sensations<\/strong>\u00a0to generate\u00a0<strong>ideas<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Primary qualities<\/strong>\u00a0are those that belong to matter (e.g. shape, texture).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Secondary qualities<\/strong>\u00a0are those which the mind creates (e.g. colours, smells). They depend on primary qualities of matter in some way which (Locke says) we don&#8217;t know.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Our\u00a0<strong>mind<\/strong>\u00a0has the ability to\u00a0<strong>reflect\u00a0<\/strong>upon its workings to generate\u00a0<strong>ideas<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Ideas\u00a0<\/strong>can be\u00a0<strong>simple\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>complex<\/strong>, depending on whether they depend on single or many ideas.\u00a0<strong>Complex ideas<\/strong>\u00a0can be of three types:\u00a0<strong>substances<\/strong>,\u00a0<b>modes<\/b>, and\u00a0<strong>relations<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Simple ideas<\/strong>\u00a0cannot be defined as they are a simple indivisible concept (e.g. red).<\/li>\n<li>A\u00a0<strong>substance<\/strong>\u00a0is that which underlies a\u00a0<em>thing<\/em>\u00a0(e.g. the basis for the qualities of a chair).<\/li>\n<li>A\u00a0<strong>mode<\/strong>\u00a0depends (ontologically, and not merely epistemologically) on the person for their existence (e.g. time).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Relations<\/strong>\u00a0are between ideas (e.g. hopeless).<\/li>\n<li>Complex ideas can be nominally generalised (e.g. from apple to fruit). The arbitrary nature of this underlies the idiosyncratic vocabulary of a language, and also the differences between two person&#8217;s idea for any particular word.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Knowledge<\/strong>\u00a0is of the agreement or disagreement of ideas. This can be via\u00a0<strong>induction<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>demonstration<\/strong>, or\u00a0<strong>sensible knowledge<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Induction<\/strong>\u00a0is the immediate knowledge regarding ideas (e.g. that white is not black).<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Demonstration<\/strong>\u00a0depends on steps of induction to generate further ideas (e.g. as in syllogisms).<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Sensible knowledge<\/strong>\u00a0is of the existence\/reality of objects in the &#8220;real&#8221; world (e.g. that there is a real chair that I am touching).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Refer to Russell&#8217;s suggestion that it is important in studying a philosopher to compare him to his predecessors and successors.<\/p>\n<p>What sort of innate ideas do we have?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Plato<\/strong>: Of Forms, but this is &#8220;forgotten&#8221;1.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Descartes<\/strong>: Knowledge of perfection and infinity and God2.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Locke<\/strong>: None.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kant<\/strong>: None.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>How do we have knowledge of a bed?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Plato<\/strong>: By our reason understanding how it partakes in the Form of the Bed (plus Form of its colour, etc).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Descartes<\/strong>: By our senses having a clear idea.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Locke<\/strong>: By our mind combining the sensed simple ideas into a complex idea.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kant<\/strong>: By our mind combining the sensed manifold via its categories.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>How do we have knowledge of the universal Bed?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Plato<\/strong>: By our reason understanding the Form of the Bed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Descartes<\/strong>: Presumably by abstracting from ideas of individual beds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Locke<\/strong>: By abstracting from our remembered ideas of individual beds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kant<\/strong>: Just like for any particular bed; using innate category\/rules appropriately.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What innate capacities does the mind have?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Plato<\/strong>: To reason knowledge of Forms, and to recall knowledge of (at least some) Forms (including geometry, and of the Good)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Descartes<\/strong>: To reason (logic); some innate ideas that can justify God (and possibly some morality); and, to judge &#8220;clear&#8221; (i.e. undeniable) ideas.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Locke<\/strong>: To reflect, to reason (by intuition), and to generate complex ideas (per substance, mode, and relation).<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Kant<\/strong>: To apply its inherent categories (logical and relational rules) to data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>2:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Plato<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<li><strong>Descartes<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<li><strong>Locke<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kant<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Meta: Can incorporate the above two (viz. 1. architectonic of Locke 2. his comparisons) by using a realistic and commonsensical mode.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Let&#8217;s start with the punchline, and then back-peddle to see if we can work out what the big deal is&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Locke says that everything we know concerns ideas from experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8230;There&#8217;ll be room to unpack some extra details below, but even so, the statement suffices for accusaions of questionable significance.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Meta: Something along the lines of &#8220;I will provide a map of the trail that follows which will benefit the reader in abating their fears of foolishness, etc&#8221;, and then do so. Of course, this will be easier when there&#8217;s an actual course to trace.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Let&#8217;s approach the issue with the following mind-frame, &#8220;a number of people, some of which are at least fairly intelligent, have found a reason to quote Locke&#8217;s epistemology as a source of wisdom, surely there is some substance behind their perspective.&#8221; Of course, that&#8217;s not a solid argument. At best it&#8217;s statistical, at worse hopeful. Thus, with momentum afoot, it remains only to choose a direction. I offer two, although not completely naively or without bias, I confess. The first sounds like, &#8220;Perhaps the devil is in the details; perhaps if Locke&#8217;s philosophy were elaborated beyond a single gnomic soundbite it would be found that the system as a detailed whole is in fact unpredictably profound.&#8221; Sure, maybe. But what&#8217;s more &#8211; and herein lies my foreshadowed bias &#8211; doing so will allow Locke&#8217;s philosophy to be detailed not only as an end but as a means for other explorations of significance. So here goes:<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does Locke break down the phenomenon of knowledge?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In practice, philosophy is a historical exercise. By that, I mean that Locke writes from within his culture and to his contemporaries. But in theory, a philosophy is an abstract paradigm, outside time and space, and so can be usefully transported from 17th century England to a 21st century digital commune.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, I&#8217;ll introduce and describe Locke as helpful to here and now.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It seems obvious that at least virtually all of our ideas come from experience. The obvious sources are our\u00a0<strong>perceptions<\/strong>, that is, our sensations of the physical world, but also\u00a0<strong>a reflection<\/strong>\u00a0of what goes on in the mind. The latter means that we have ideas of intangibles such as of particular emotions. It&#8217;s worth considering &#8211; and it will be useful too &#8211; that while the emotions are an innate capacity, nonetheless we would be able to think about it until we had experienced it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This raises the point that there is stuff (and I choose this imprecise term also for its lack of technicality) that are innate to humans, but without their correlative ideas being innate. Like everything else, it is impossible to think of innate stuff until we gain their ideas from experience.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I had written that it is &#8220;obvious that at least\u00a0<em>virtually all<\/em>\u00a0of our ideas come experience&#8221;. That was just to get your foot in the door. Even what is not obviously dependent on experience,\u00a0<em>is<\/em>. Even those stuff that we have the innate capacity to think of we still require experience for their consideration. Aside from emotions, another example &#8211; and one that is not an intuitive contender for innateness &#8211; is colour.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Let&#8217;s take two steps back.\u00a0<strong>Perceptions\u00a0<\/strong>are due to the ability of\u00a0<strong>matter\u00a0<\/strong>to\u00a0affect us. The manner in which matter effects us &#8211; the properties which we as a consequence observe in matter &#8211; we may term their\u00a0<strong>qualities<\/strong>. But there&#8217;s an interesting difference amongst qualities. Some of the qualities as we perceive them, don&#8217;t seem to be true representations of the matter. Before we dissect the\u00a0<em>matter<\/em>, there seems to be a difference between qualities like red or sweet, versus qualities like this mass or this size. As if colour (or taste) are\u00a0<em>interpretations<\/em>\u00a0of some real property, while any mass (or size) is perceived as it is.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Utilizing some science lore, it is possible to dress these differences up with modern jargon. Matter is made up of atoms that have size and mass and shape and motion. These, Locke calls,\u00a0<strong>primary qualities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Meta: Proceed by describing secondary qualities, including qua innate capacity.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Meta: After comparing Locke to others, it can be concluded that Locke is not only historically significant, but by dissecting the obvious, allows for considerations that themselves are not obvious.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>4.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Meta: Take#3 is too long still. Need an approach that minimizes the unnecessary details &#8211; unnecessary insofar as explicating some point\/perspective-X that justifies the w\/u.<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:2px;border-color:#2341f8\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"#_ftnrefI\" name=\"_ftnI\"><sup>[I]<\/sup><\/a> &#8220;Published in 1690, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is the masterwork of the great philosopher of freedom <strong>John Locke<\/strong>. Nearly twenty years in preparation Locke began working on The Essay in 1670 following a series of philosophical discussion during which he and his friends decided that \u201cit was necessary to examine our own abilities, and see what objects our understandings were, or were not, fitted to deal with.\u201d The Essay is an attempt to establish what it is and isn\u2019t possible for us to know and understand. \u201cMy purpose,\u201d Locke says, is \u201cto enquire into the origin, certainty, and extent of human knowledge; together, with the grounds and degrees of belief, opinion, and assent.\u201d The aim thus is not to achieve certainty, but to understand how much weight we can assign to different types of knowledge.&#8221; For further details see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thegreatdebate.org.uk\/LockeEpistem.html\">John Locke\u2019s Theory of Knowledge (An Essay Concerning Human Understanding)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editorial notes: Shai documents his interpretation of\u00a0Locke\u2019s Theory of Knowledge[I]\u00a0which, he explains, \u201cis famous for being based on the principle that the mind is a blank slate\u201d and that the mind is \u201cgaining everything it knows by experience\u201d. The need to acquire experience in order to gain knowledge is a principle by which Shai chose [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159,302,275,103,204,256,20,269],"tags":[],"metadata":[155,171,282],"class_list":["post-4030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-classicalphilosophers","category-descartes","category-essay","category-everything2","category-kant","category-philosophy","category-plato","metadata-brain-storming","metadata-editors-footnotes","metadata-meta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1716,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2010\/11\/22\/dawkins-god-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":0},"title":"Dawkins&#8217; God","author":"Pala","date":"November 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Dawkin's God\u00a0is a non-fiction book by\u00a0Alister McGrath\u00a0published in\u00a02004. It is a response to\u00a0Dawkin's\u00a0views, especially as they\u00a0regard religion. The book is subtitled\u00a0Genes,\u00a0Memes, and\u00a0the Meaning of Life. Comments: The most\u00a0intelligible\u00a0interpretation\u00a0of McGrath's take on Dawkins is that Dawkins is attacking academic-religion and not pop-religion. The reason for making this distinction is that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2740,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/10\/05\/saturday-october-5-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":1},"title":"Saturday October 5, 2013","author":"Pala","date":"October 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: The Evernote journal entry written on this day contains material (see the second paragraph in the post below) that is fundamental and pivotal to understanding Shai\u2019s life philosophy. I decided to deviate from one of my editorial principles and highlighted it for ease of reading. While the point\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2425,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/02\/06\/philosophy-readings-through-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":2},"title":"Philosophy readings through time","author":"Pala","date":"February 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: In February 2013, Shai adds\u00a0Evernote\u00a0to his suite of repositories. This is an application designed specifically for note-taking, organising, task lists and archiving. This proves to be the ideal tool for him to better control his ever-growing research notes, stored primarily up to this point, in handwritten notebooks and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2869,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2014\/06\/07\/hamann\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":3},"title":"Hamann","author":"Pala","date":"June 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0Biography 1730-1788 (58) Born and studied (although without completing) university in\u00a0K\u00f6nigsberg. Took a job with a friend (Berens), but failed at some mission, which after living a high life was left impoverished, alone and lonely. In this state, in a rented attic, depressed, he read the Bible and had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2826,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/11\/29\/friday-november-29-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":4},"title":"Friday November 29, 2013","author":"Pala","date":"November 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I woke up from a passing loss of conscious motor control. I had dreamt, which is one thing I have severely preferred to avoid. Oh my, how time does pass me by as I stare off into the dreamless horizons, which promise stagnant vistas and microcosm by which one could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2673,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/11\/08\/paul-henri-thiry-baron-dholbach\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":5},"title":"Friday November 8, 2013","author":"Pala","date":"November 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul-Henri Thiry (Baron) d'Holbach Read the SEP entry on Holbach, per which I base the following: Biography: This Frenchman (1723-1789) has been categorized as a materialist and atheist, and was known in his time for his \"parties\" (for want of a word, although they are described in terms of their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/padotI-130","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4030"},{"taxonomy":"metadata","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metadata?post=4030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}