Relationship Between Quality and Ideas According to Locke

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1. According to Locke’s definitions, what is the relationship between qualities and ideas?
According to Locke’s definitions qualities are defined as “non-mental attributes of chunks of matter in the world, they are the things ideas are about” (Bailey 154). In other terms, qualities are the causal properties or as Locke refers to it as “powers”. These powers are of the physical object in virtue that can cause ideas to exist in our minds; for example, the virtue in which they can cause us to have certain kinds of sensations.
Ideas are defined as “mental entities; they constitute our experience to the world” (Bailey 154). Ideas are things that already exist in our minds. Hence, ideas are the sensations in our mind and qualities are the properties of objects that can cause us to have such sensations.
“Whatsoever the mind perceives in itself, or is the immediate object of perception, thought, or understanding, that I call idea; and the power to produce any idea in our mind, I call quality of the of the subject wherein that power is” (Bailey 157). Take a snowball for instance. The external features of a snowball in Locke’s case are ideas. Here ideas help to tell us what the object is because these features are already there. Using the same example, qualities provide us with more in depth information of what is needed to understand what a snowball is through use of our perceptions and sensations that we receive pertaining to and from the snowball.

2. According to Locke’s definitions, what is the difference between primary and secondary qualities?
According to Locke, the difference between primary and secondary qualities is that; “From whence I think it is easy to draw this observation, that the ideas of primary qualities of bodies ...

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..., demonstrative knowledge, for example, that God exists, and sensitive knowledge that there are things in the world, but pressing our knowledge of those things into perfect focus is beyond our ken” (Garvey 55).
All of this relates back to experience and perception as discussed in the previous questions. “Experience only gives us examples, particular truths at best, but we seem to know general truths too.” (Garvey 55). Locke argues this based on his chapters of knowledge and empiricism. Those who wish to know more about something will find ways to get the information they need pertaining to that subject. After all knowledge is fun and we humans learn new things everyday. For some it’s a desire to know as much as they want and for some it’s a desire to want to know more. This is based on a person’s preference and the way in which they perceive the world around them.

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