John Locke Broad Questions by E-53

History of Western Ideas Allied- IV
John Locke(Empiricism)
Previous Year Broad Questions

Courtesy- 53rd batch, Department of English
University of Chittagong
What features of empiricism is reflected in Locke’s theory

of knowledge?
 Empiricism is perhaps as old as philosophy itself but it did not come to

flourish in philosophy before the seventeenth century of the Christian era
except only for a brief while at the time of the sophists of the early Greek
period. As a branch of epistemology, empiricism disregards the concept of
innate ideas and focuses entirely on experience and evidence as it relates to
sensory perception. It rivals rationalism according to which reason is the
ultimate source of knowledge. The philosophy of empiricism was first put
forth by John Locke’s in his book ‘An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding’.
 Empiricism, in philosophy, is the view that all concepts originate in

experience, that all concepts are about or applicable to things that can be
experienced, or that all rationally accepted beliefs or propositions are
justifiable or knowable only through experience. This definition accords with
the derivation of the word empiricism from the Greek word ‘empeiria’ which
means experience. It is a philosophical theory which argues that human
knowledge is derived entirely from sensory experience. Accordingly, it
rejects any (or much) use of a priori reasoning in the gathering and analysis
of knowledge. According to the empiricists, experience provides the marks
of criteria of knowledge and these criteria may be subsequently used to
determine the extent of our knowledge. They emphasize that, sense
experience is the only guide in our understanding of the world; that is, it is
the only method and criterion of knowledge and truth. Thus, any opinion or
judgment which cannot be established on the evidence of experience, is to
be treated as uncertain, false or even as superstitious. In philosophical
theories and everyday attitudes, the experiences referred to by empiricists
are principally those arising from the stimulation of the sense organs, that is,
from visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and gustatory sensation. What all
empiricists have in common is their rejection of innate ideas and their
insistence that all knowledge derives from sense perception and is
circumscribed by sense perception. They all maintain that at birth the human
mind is a blank slate – tabula rasa. From the foregoing, it can be said that, as
a theory of knowledge, empiricism upholds the view that experience is the
only source of knowledge, or that the senses alone can provide us with
reliable knowledge about the world. The common-sense view is that, the
senses do provide us with knowledge of some sort and most people adopt
this kind of empirical view. John Locke was born in 1632 at Wrington,
Somerset, and died seventy-two years later in 1704. He was one of the most
famous philosophers and political theorists of the seventeenth century. He
is often regarded as the founder of the school of thought known as British
Empiricism, and he made foundational contributions to modern theories of
limited, liberal government. In his most important work, Essay Concerning
Human Understanding, Locke set out to offer an analysis of the human mind
and its acquisition of knowledge. The main project of the Essay is an
examination of the human understanding and an analysis of knowledge. He
offered an empiricist theory according to which we acquire ideas through
our experience of the world. Knowledge, then, consists of a special kind of
relationship between different ideas. Locke opened Book IV of his Essay with
the quote: “knowledge then seems to me to be nothing but the perception
of the connexion and agreement, or disagreement and repugnancy of any of
our ideas. Where this perception is, there is knowledge, and where it is not,
there, though we may fancy, guess, or believe, yet we always come short of
knowledge” (4.2.2, 525). What does Locke mean by the “connexion and
agreement” and the “disagreement and repugnancy” of our ideas? An
example might help. Bring to mind your idea of the color white and your idea
of the color black. Locke thinks that upon doing this you will immediately
perceive that they are different, that is, they “disagree”. It is when you
perceive this disagreement that you know the fact that white is not black.
There are three dimensions along which there might be this sort of
agreement or disagreement between ideas. First, we can perceive when two
ideas are identical or non-identical. For example, knowing that sweetness is
not bitterness consists in perceiving that the idea of sweetness is not
identical to the idea of bitterness. Second, we can perceive relations that
obtain between ideas. For example, knowing that seven (7) is greater than
three (3) consists in perceiving that there is a size relation of bigger and
smaller between the two ideas. Third, we can perceive when our idea of a
certain feature accompanies our idea of a certain thing. For instance, if I
know that ice is cold this is because I perceive that my idea of cold always
accompanies my idea of ice. From this, it follows that Locke thinks that all of
our knowledge consists in agreements or disagreements of one of these
types. It is obvious that if Locke is going to say that all ideas come from
experience, he must reject the theory of innateness. According to Locke,
ideas are the fundamental units of our mental content and so they play an
integral role in his explanation of the human mind and his account of our
knowledge. Ideas, according to Locke, are the immediate objects of human
knowledge. This means that we have no direct knowledge of things
themselves but only of our ideas about them. He distinguished ideas
between simple and complex. Simple ideas constitute the chief source of the
raw materials out of which our knowledge is made. These ideas are received
passively by the mind through the senses. When we look at an object, ideas
come into our minds in a single file. This is so even when an object has several
qualities blended together. Complex ideas, on the other hand, are not
received passively but rather are put together by our minds as a compound
of simple ideas. Unlike simple ideas, complex ideas are not copies and they
do not refer to anything original out there. After detailing the types of
relations between ideas which constitute knowledge, Locke continues on to
discuss the three “degrees” of knowledge. Intuitive knowledge gives us
certainty that we exist, demonstrative knowledge shows that God exists, and
sensitive knowledge assures us that other selves and things exist but only as
they are when we experience them. John Locke made significant
contributions to the history of Modern Philosophy in both epistemology and
political theory. He was influenced in many ways by Descartes, but in
opposing Descartes’ Rationalist epistemology he established the starting
point of Empiricism. Locke set out “to enquire into the origin, certainty, and
extent of human knowledge.” He assumed that if he could describe what
knowledge consists of and how it is obtained, he could determine the limits
of knowledge and decide what constitutes intellectual certainty. His
conclusion was that knowledge is restricted to ideas – not the innate ideas
of the rationalists but ideas that are generated by objects we experience.
Without exception, according to Locke, all our ideas come to us through
some kind of experience. This means that each person’s mind is in the
beginning like a blank sheet of paper upon which experience alone can
subsequently write on.
 Prepared by- Hadia Sultana
 What reasons does Locke give for the emergence of civil

society?
 The most influential enlightenment thinker John Locke believes that the
emergence of civil society is for the preservation of people's natural right.
 John Locke was against the claims that God has made all people naturally
subject to a monarch. The monarch is not subject to the will of his people.
He is not even accountable to an earthly authority because his right to rule
is derived from divine authority. The monarch will rule according to divine
law. Only divine authority can judge an unjust monarch.
 Locke claims that “men being….by nature all free, equal and independent, no
one can be put out of this estate and subjected to the political power of
another without his consent”. According to Locke," men living together
according to reason, without a common superior on earth with authority to
judge between is properly the state of nature”. People have natural rights
such as the right to life, liberty and property.in the state of nature, it is reason
that teaches all mankind that they are all equal and independent. no one
ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possession. The question
arises here “if people are aware of their natural law and natural right, why
do they desire to leave the state of nature and enter
into civil society? ".to answer this Locke says that though people are aware
of natural law, they do not always develop a knowledge of it because of
indifference and negligence. They are aware of " the justification of private
ownership is labor”. The more they work, the more their private ownership
increases.so on the basis of property, class discrimination comes to light and
dispute arises in the society. as a result, there is a need of an independent
judge to decide disputes.
 To settle disputes, preserve natural rights and lead a peaceful life, people
enter into the civil society where they transfer some of their rights to the
government in order to ensure the stable and comfortable enjoyment of
their life, liberty and property. The government will run the state according
to their consent. They will be obedient to the government. The government
will protect their rights and promote public welfare and if it fails to do so,
people can replace it with new government.
 Prepared by- Farjana Akhtar
Thanks for your valuable time

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History of Western Ideas Allied- IV

Previous Year Broad Questions

What features of empiricism is reflected in Locke’s theory

 Empiricism is perhaps as old as philosophy itself but it did not come to

 Empiricism, in philosophy, is the view that all concepts originate in

 Prepared by- Hadia Sultana

 What reasons does Locke give for the emergence of civil

 Prepared by- Farjana Akhtar

Thanks for your valuable time

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