Transcript John Locke and modern empiricism - Bayt al

John Locke and modern
empiricism
Third Lecture
Biographical Note













Biografi
1632: born on 29th August in Wrington/Somerset
1652: worked in Oxford
1662: lectured in philosophy in Oxford, polemics on tolerance
1667: moved to London and served Lord Earl of Shaftesbury
1668: Member of Royal Society with his contributions in economics and natural
sciences
1675: lived in France.
1679: back to London
1683: imigrated to Netherland because of political conflict
1689: back to England, refused a governmental position
1689: published Epistola de tolerantia, and An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding.
1690: published Two tratises of Government
1704: dead in Oates/Essex on 28th October.
Critique on the Cartesian
Doctrine of Innate Ideas


Locke disagreed on cartesian doctrine that
derives our knowledge from the a priori
principle in human reason. According to him
our reason must be considered as a blank
white paper (tabula rasa) that is filled with
sense-data or empirical experiences.
The innate ideas that Descartes propagates
have not their own content, because they
originate from our perception and sensation.
How do we know a table as it
is?


The rationalist answered that the table is
already in our head as an idea. Without the
idea of table (extension) the external reality
seems to us as a chaotic landscape. The idea
structures it as a form of table.
The empiricist found the other answer: We
cannot have the idea of table in our head, if
we don’t touch or experience the table
outside our head. The objective world is real
and not only our rational construction. It
exists, therefore it has an ontological status.
The Process of Knowledge





1. The table is perceived by our senses; then the
externality of this material thing is the object of
our SENSATION, whereas the operation of our
mind knowing it is called REFLECTION.
2. From sense-data we get in our mind simple
ideas such as ‘brown’, ‘wood’, ‘big’ or ‘table’.
3. We observe also many kinds of table so that we
get in our mind some simple ideas of table
4. From these simple ideas our mind connects
them. This process is called “abstraction”.
5. The result of abstraction is complex ideas such
as “substance”, “relation” or “mode”.
Primary and secondary
Qualities of an Object



Locke made an important distinction between
primary and secondary qualities.
Primary qualities are the objective side of an
observed object like its wideness, movement
or mass. They are inherent in the object.
But secondary qualities are the subjective
side of an observed object. They are the
conditions of the observing subject itself like
‘sweetness’, ‘redness’, ‘warmness’ etc.
The Ontological Status of
External World

With his view on primary qualities Locke
assumed that the world outside of us
exist objectively and external to us. It is
not mere our rational construction or
our imagination. It is real and has an
ontological status as material beings.
Empiricism and the Rise of
modern Sciences



Locke was a pioneer of modern empiricism,
the view that teaches that our knowledge is
gained through experience, especially sense
experience.
The modern sciences assume the existence of
external world that is separated from our
consciousness.
In animism or fetishism man cannot differ
external and internal world, so that the limits
between fiction and reality are blurred.
The Concept of Experience



Empiricism didn’t limit itself in sense experience. The
concept of experience in empiricism didn’t exclude the
spiritual experience (George Berkeley).
So, we cannot only experience the heat of fire, but also
the idea of ‘heat’. According to Berkeley being is being
perceived (esse est percipii), so that our world is
nothing but perceived idea.
The religious experience like the experience of the
“tremendum” and “fascinosum” (Rudolf Otto) is also
experience that is included in the category of the
empirical.
Esse est percipi

George Berkeley (1685-1753) argued
that we don’t perceive the object
outside our mind, but the idea in our
mind. Esse est percipi – this famous
statement of Berkeley means that being
(i.e. the external world) is but seeming.
So, my world is my world.
Critique on Substance

David Hume (1711-1776), the radical
empiricist, viewed that ‘substance’ is
but a bundle of perceptions. So, if I
think that I’ am, this “I” is only a
constant impression on certain traits
that accompany our experience. If we
sleep, for example, we lost our “selves”,
because the perceptions are empty.
Critique on Causality

David Hume criticized the very concept of
causality. According to him if the billiard ball A
moves toward the billiard ball B and strikes it,
we say that the B moves because of A
(propter hoc). But in the reality that doesn’t
happen. What happen is that the B moves
after the A (post hoc). The causality is but
the constant and stable impression on the
chronological relation between A dan B.
The Influence of Empiricism


The empiricism is the epistemological
foundation of modern sciences and
influences the objectivist researches in
many aspects of modern society
(inductive logic)
In the modern materialism and
positivism the principles of empiricism
are very central, i.e. sense-data as the
source of our knowledge.