PH 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: The Strongest, Tabula Rasa, Dont
12 May 2018
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Notes for Day 13
Leibniz was a late contemporary of John Locke, so there is no chronological order
John Lock was a philosopher of politics
He usually responds to Thomas Hobbs in his writing
He is the first social contract theorist
He argues for a limited form of government
His theory is used currently by the American government
Born in 1632
The founding fathers were inspired by him
To Locke, the whole point of government is just to protect our private property
If the government doesn't do so, then we as citizens have every right to criticize or sue
Hobbs didn't agree; he believed that it wasn't best to overthrow the government or start a revolution
To Hobbs, it's best to stick with what you know
Locke's theories inspired Carl Marx
His theories inspired Marxism with the idea of private property
Locke is also famous for his book called the essay concerning human understanding
In his book, he comes up with the theory of empiricism: knowledge is based on sensory experiences not
rational thought
He is the father of British empiricism
His explanation was based on a particular way to have knowledge
Both Locke and Hume are revolutionary for their ideas about human reason and because empiricism is
better than rationalism
Our sympathies will not lie with rationalism, but they will more lie with empiricism
Locke is also famous for his pancake recipe :)
Essay Concerning Human Understanding:
Locke wrote 4 versions of his essay, but there may be 6 major revisions
There are 3 known drafts to his essay (A, B, and C)
The handwritten Draft C is found in the Piermont Library in New York
This draft contains little notes that Locke used to write for himself
One of the notes was his pancake recipe
"Essay Concerning Human Understanding:"
Locke is very humble in his writing, he doesn't care if the reader doesn't agree with his writing, he wrote
what he believed was right and he wrote it for his close friends not for the public
He doesn't have big aspirations, he just wants to understand human reasoning, he was just a physician
and didn't care what other people said
He is just scraping the surface to make way for bigger projects regarding knowledge
However, he believes that is a right way to talk about knowledge, which he worked hard to understand
and research about (DON'T BE FOOLED BY HIS HUMBLENESS)
Descartes always seemed to have a skeptical method, but Descartes was not a skeptic, and he didn't
think that there are series limitations to human knowledge, he believed that if you have a bit of reason,
then you are able to figure everything out
Locke goes against this idea: he believes that the ability to reason doesn't come from nature or the soul,
it comes from experience, its adaptable, it is learned, but we can't learn everything; Locke believes that
there are many things that humans can't understand, and therefore can't learn.
There are things that human being aren't able to know
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Leibniz was a late contemporary of john locke, so there is no chronological order. He usually responds to thomas hobbs in his writing. He argues for a limited form of government. His theory is used currently by the american government. To locke, the whole point of government is just to protect our private property. If the government doesn"t do so, then we as citizens have every right to criticize or sue. Hobbs didn"t agree; he believed that it wasn"t best to overthrow the government or start a revolution. To hobbs, it"s best to stick with what you know. His theories inspired marxism with the idea of private property. Locke is also famous for his book called the essay concerning human understanding. In his book, he comes up with the theory of empiricism: knowledge is based on sensory experiences not rational thought. His explanation was based on a particular way to have knowledge.
