PHLB35H3 Lecture : Rationalism, Locke

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While locke believes that we have distinct ideas of material and mental substance, he is largely agnostic regarding the metaphysical issue of how the mind and the body are related. He defends substance dualism against a number of objections, but he also defends the possibility of a thinking material substance: defence of substance dualism. Locke doesn"t claim that he knows matter thinks, or even that it is probable; he claims only that we can"t rule out the possibility that god could give the property of thinking to a material substance. His reasoning rests largely on two points (346-47): the notion of thinking matter is not contradictory, and is no less comprehensible than the thesis of substance dualism. We have intuitive knowledge when the mind perceives the agreement or disagreement of two ideas immediately by themselves, without the intervention of any other (341): no reasoning involved, no greater certainty is possible.