PH 202 Lecture 15: Notes for Day 15
12 May 2018
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Notes for Day 15
Qualities: the powers objects have to produce ideas in us
For Descartes, qualities are the properties or characteristics that depend on substances (Principal
attributes of a substance)
For Locke, qualities are the powers that objects have to produce ideas in me
Primary vs Secondary qualities
Examples of Primary qualities:
Physical characteristics that objects will always have, they are unique to substances and define the
object, they are permanent
Size, shape, motion, quantity, solidity (perceived by one sense--touch; still a primary quality even though
it depends on a sense)
Examples of Secondary qualities:
Color, odor, taste, texture, sound
Physical characteristics that vary from object to object
If there was no such thing as color, you wouldn't be able to distinguish two different objects unless we
distinguish their colors, the edges of things aren't distinguishable
If you lose one of your senses, your ability to distinguish two different objects would be through other
secondary qualities like sound, smell, touch
Color wouldn't exist without sight
The primary qualities of an object are permanent, they do not vary from object to object, and do not
wholly depend upon a sense
There is nothing in objects that may resemble you idea of the color red, or a putrid smell, or a sweet
sound
But there is stuff in objects that resemble your idea of large, small, many, very little, how it moves, if it
moves, is it solid, what kind of shape is it
Primary qualities vs secondary qualities is perceived to be true with many philosophers because things
like color may not exist
If you break down molecules, you get size, shape, quantity and motion, but you don't get color, smell,
sound
Atoms are colorless, odorless, soundless entities
Together, atoms in combination with each other can produce color, smell, and sound
But, with an ordinarily shaped object in the macro-level is not the same shape as the molecule that
makes up the entire macro-scale object
This means that primary qualities are as variable as the secondary qualities of an object, but they are still
specific to an object, maybe not between the microscopic and macroscopic levels of the same object
THEORY OF SUBSTANCE:
Locke still believes in the substance-attribute ontology, but he does change his perception of an object
because he wants to explain the theory of substance by Descartes that is applied to empiricism
For Locke, the idea of substance is complex not simple, which goes against the Cartesian view
(substances are simple things)
To Locke, an object produces a collection of simple ideas that are considered as one unit, so they
formulate one complex idea
Descartes and his wax is an example of complex idea: a cube of wax that smells like flowers and tastes
like honey and is cold to the touch (Sensible qualities), you bring it near the fire and you get a puddle of
wax that is warm to the touch, doesn't smell like flowers and taste like honey (change in sensible
qualities)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Qualities: the powers objects have to produce ideas in us. For descartes, qualities are the properties or characteristics that depend on substances (principal attributes of a substance) For locke, qualities are the powers that objects have to produce ideas in me. Physical characteristics that objects will always have, they are unique to substances and define the object, they are permanent. Size, shape, motion, quantity, solidity (perceived by one sense--touch; still a primary quality even though it depends on a sense) Physical characteristics that vary from object to object. If there was no such thing as color, you wouldn"t be able to distinguish two different objects unless we distinguish their colors, the edges of things aren"t distinguishable. If you lose one of your senses, your ability to distinguish two different objects would be through other secondary qualities like sound, smell, touch.
