PHIL 204 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Direct And Indirect Realism, Empiricism

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 204
• Professor: Leslie Jamieson

Document Summary

John locke- (cid:862)mode(cid:396)(cid:374) philosoph(cid:455)(cid:863: 1632-1704, empiricist, distinguished between primary and secondary qualities. I(cid:374) lo(cid:272)ke"s essa(cid:455) concerning human understanding: whatever the mind perceives itself, or the immediate object of perception, thought or understanding- called idea. Includes shape, size, number, solidity and motion: these are the qualities which belong to the object independently of human perception, reflect the arrangement of an objects particles. It is an error to attribute our ideas of secondary qualities- the(cid:455) do (cid:374)ot (cid:862)(cid:396)ep(cid:396)ese(cid:374)t(cid:863) anything in the objects: world is fundamentally physical and qualities referring to physical qualities are most real. Hu(cid:373)e"s respo(cid:374)se: book i, pa(cid:396)t iv, e(cid:272)tio(cid:374) iv: hume has shown that causation cannot be demonstrated, intuited or observed and so cannot be known by reason. But idea of this ki(cid:374)d (cid:373)ight still (cid:271)e (cid:862)(cid:449)o(cid:396)th(cid:455)(cid:863) Distinction: worthy, unjustified beliefs- permanent, irresistible and universal. Without these, we would perish and go to ruin: unworthy, unjustified beliefs- changeable, weakly held (not lively) and irregular (uncommon).