Posted: April 27th, 2023

Read the assigned reading from the chapter. Then choose ONE of the questions below to answer. Answer the question you chose in a response that is a minimum of 1-2 paragraphs.

Be sure to explain your answers and give reasons for your views. You should cite the textbook and use brief quotations and summaries from the textbook in your response. Do NOT use any other sources besides the textbook.

Explain Locke’s view that we can have knowledge of an external world despite our being directly aware only of sense data. Do you agree with him, or do you side with his critics who say that we can know only the contents of our minds?
Why does Berkeley deny the existence of material objects? Explain his view of subjective idealism. Do you accept or reject his theory? Why or why not?
Suppose someone claims that he can easily refute Berkeley’s idealism by simply kicking a rock or eating an apple. Does this demonstration show that Berkeley’s view is false? Explain.
Hume thinks that all knowledge must be traced back to perceptions; otherwise, assertions of knowledge are meaningless. From this, he concludes that all theological and metaphysical speculations are worthless. Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
What does Kant mean by “Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind?” Do you agree that at least some of your perceptions are conceptualized?

John Locke believed that humans can have knowledge of the external world even though we can only be directly aware of sense data. In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke explains that our sense data is caused by external objects and that our minds can use this information to form complex ideas about the world. He also notes that our sense data can be deceiving, but we can use reason and experience to differentiate between true and false perceptions.

I agree with Locke’s view that we can have knowledge of the external world despite our being directly aware only of sense data. While our perceptions may be limited to what we can sense, our minds are capable of processing and analyzing that information to form complex ideas about the world. Additionally, our experiences and interactions with the world allow us to verify or disprove our perceptions, giving us a more accurate understanding of reality. As the textbook states, “The contents of our minds depend on our experiences, but these contents are about the world outside of us, not just about our own ideas or feelings” (p. 149).