PHIL 250 Lecture 11: Locke on Language and Primary and Secondary Qualities continued
10 Mar 2017
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Locke on language and primary and secondary qualities continued: to explore further the distinction between of primary and secondary qualities we considered the following example. Imagine you are transported to a strange science-fictionish environment and that a predator with sense organs very different from yours is pursuing you. You must assume that, if the being is aware, intelligent and rational, that it will work out the spatial layout of your environment and the shapes, sizes, and masses of the physical bodies that are in it. That is, you can assume that, like you, it can establish facts about the primary qualities of the objects in the environment. These facts, we suppose, hold independently of both of you. In respect of its primary qualities, your view of the terrain and its view are views of the same terrain. We do not have the same conception of the secondary qualities of the objects in this alien world.
