Locke On Supposing a Substratum
| Abstract | It is an old charge against Locke that his commitment to a common substratum for the observable qualities of particular objects and his empiricist theory about the origin of ideas are inconsistent with one another. How could we have an idea of something in which observable qualities inhere if all our ideas are constructed from ideas of observable qualities? In this paper, I propose an interpretation of the crucial passages in Locke, according to which the idea of substratum is formed through an elaborate mental process which he calls “supposition.” It is the same process we use when we form the idea of infinity − another problematic idea for an empiricist. In the end, Locke was more liberal than most empiricists in subscribing to the existence of ideas far removed from experience, because he accepted supposition as a legitimate way of constructing new ideas. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,679 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Only published papers are available at libraries |
Similar books and articlesDaniel Z. Korman (2010). Locke on Substratum: A Deflationary Interpretation. Locke Studies 10:61-84.
I. C. Tipton (ed.) (1977). Locke on Human Understanding: Selected Essays. Oxford University Press.
Lionel Shapiro (2010). Two Kinds of Intentionality in Locke. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 91 (4):554-586.
Gabor Forrai (2010). Locke on Substance in General. Locke Studies 10:27-59.
David Palmer (1976). Boyle's Corpuscular Hypothesis and Locke's Primary-Secondary Quality Distinction. Philosophical Studies 29 (3):181 - 189.
Gábor Forrai (2010). Locke on Substance in General. Locke Studies 10 (27):59.
Robert A. Wilson (forthcoming). Primary and Secondary Qualities. In Matthew Stuart (ed.), Blackwell Companion to Locke. Blackwell.
Michael Jacovides (1999). Locke's Resemblance Theses. Philosophical Review 108 (4):461-496.
Gábor Forrai (2010). Locke on Substance in General. Locke Studies 10:27-59.
Walter Ott (2012). What is Locke's Theory of Representation? British Journal for the History of Philosophy 20 (6):1077-1095.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-12-22Total downloads23 ( #53,853 of 549,084 )Recent downloads (6 months)6 ( #12,372 of 549,084 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
