Locke on primary and secondary qualities
Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 78 (3):297-319 (1997)
| Abstract | In this paper, I argue that Book II, Chapter viii of Locke' Essay is a unified, self-consistent whole, and that the appearance of inconsistency is due largely to anachronistic misreadings and misunderstandings. The key to the distinction between primary and secondary qualities is that the former are, while the latter are not, real properties, i.e., properties that exist in bodies independently of being perceived. Once the distinction is properly understood, it becomes clear that Locke's arguments for it are simple, valid and (in one case) persuasive as well. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Epistemology Primary Quality Quality Secondary Quality Alexander, P Bolton, M Locke Mackie, J | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,631 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesRobert A. Wilson (2002). Locke's Primary Qualities. Journal of the History of Philosophy 40 (2):201-228.
Steven M. Nadler (1990). Berkeley's Ideas and the Primary/Secondary Distinction. Canadian Journal of Philosophy 20 (1):47-61.
David Palmer (1976). Boyle's Corpuscular Hypothesis and Locke's Primary-Secondary Quality Distinction. Philosophical Studies 29 (3):181 - 189.
David Novitz (1975). Primary and Secondary Qualities: A Return to Fundamentals. Philosophical Papers 4 (October):89-104.
Keith Allen (2008). Mechanism, Resemblance and Secondary Qualities: From Descartes to Locke. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 16 (2):273 – 291.
Steffen Borge (2007). Some Remarks on Reid on Primary and Secondary Qualities. Acta Analytica 22 (1):74-84.
Jennifer McKitrick (2002). Reid's Foundation for the Primary/Secondary Quality Distinction. Philosophical Quarterly 52 (209):478-494.
Robert A. Wilson (forthcoming). Primary and Secondary Qualities. In Matthew Stuart (ed.), Blackwell Companion to Locke. Blackwell.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads230 ( #916 of 548,972 )Recent downloads (6 months)15 ( #4,088 of 548,972 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
