“Theories of Knowledge”
5/1/02
PHL. 202, Prof. Borrowdale

Announcements:
*Test extended until Friday @5pm
*Today: Finishing Chapter 4-Perception
*Friday: Chapter 5-What is knowledge?

-Possible test question:
Locke supports:
a. Direct realism
b. Representationalism
c. Phenomenalism
d. Phlogistonism

I. Locke

1. We never see external material objects directly, only indirectly through ideas (formed through perception) which represents them.
2. Locke’s argument for substance does not seem very Empirialistic: We can’can not Conceive of disembodied qualities, so we Suppose a material substance in which they exist.-Rationalist Argument

Locke-Most moderate empiricist
Hume-Most radical/thorough empiricist

II. Human Perception

1. Only medium sized material objects (or large ones at a distance)
-Can’t see atomic/quantum world
-Can’t see macro world if too close
-At what distance do you see an object as it truly is? From what angle/vantage point?
2. Only perceive certain frequencies of light and sound

-Humans have:
-Poor sense of smell
-Can’t see cosmic rays
-Not aware of magnetic fields
-No sonar like bats, whales

3. Humans don’t have the equipment to see everything; therefore human perception is not of all there is.

-Berkeley: “To be is to be perceived.”
Meaning: X exists, = X is perceived by some mind, someone is having an idea of X.
-Berkeley’s Poem, Page 72
-Berkeley: Instead of a person seeing a tree, a possesses a soul with an idea of a tree.

4. Locke’s Objection: It is ridiculous to think things pop out of existence when no one looks at them.
-Reply: God always perceives them.

-God produces a table and others perceive the table
OR/ Does God make each of us our own table?

5. Berkeley Common Sense: We hear sounds, Not material objects.
-We smell smells, not ‘matter’
-He says: “Material Substance” is an unproven, contradictory concept created by philosophers.
-“Real Things” are collections of ideas
-A flower is redness, yellowness, flower shape, etc.
Not “material object” which produces these ideas
-Only minds and ideas exist.