BRITISH EMPIRICISM 1

Rationalists Empiricists We cannot trust our senses. We can know things only through reason. Descartes Spinoza Leibniz Empiricists Meaningful knowledge can be acquired only through our senses. John Locke (England) George Berkeley (Ireland) David Hume (Scotland)

John Locke (1632-1704) An Essay Concerning Human Understanding Rejected the “innate” ideas of Descartes and the rationalists. If there are any innate ideas, everyone must have them, not just certain people. The mind is a tabula rasa – “blank tablet” at birth.

John Locke (1632-1704) Only through experiencing the world does one come to know things. All our ideas have their origin in experience. 4

John Locke (1632-1704) There is a difference between primary and secondary qualities. Primary qualities are inherent in objects. E.g., Size, shape, motion, number. Secondary qualities are perceived by us: color, taste, smell, temperature. 5

John Locke (1632-1704) On Politics Did not want to build a political system on religious views, but natural philosophy. The role of the government is to secure the rights of people afforded by natural law: Life, Liberty, and Property. . 6

John Locke (1632-1704) On Religion There cannot be an endless series of cause and effect. God is the first cause. Locke was one of the fathers of Deism. He became the most prominent and influential philosopher among Founding Fathers. 7

John Locke 1632-1704 Nationality: English Group Alliances: "Brutal" British Empiricists "Sorrow-causin'" Social Contract Theorists AKA: Shock-em Locke Rock-em Locke Clock-em Locke Sock-em Jock-em Locke Primary qualities: super strength Secondary qualities: facility with prose Notes: The face in Locke's nineteenth-century schoolboy slate is Leibniz. Children can allegorically act out the innateness debate which was so thrillingly portrayed in Leibniz' New Essay Concerning Human Understanding by having two dolls fight. Leibniz' contribution to the debate is, of course, all very posthumous as far as Locke is concerned, but that doesn't stop one from pretending the dolls are fighting. And a barrel-chested action figure with an enormous wig is objectively funny.

George Berkeley (1685-1783) Denied the connection between the world and our perception of it that Locke established. Both primary and secondary qualities exist only in the mind. Only mental substances (ideas) exist. We can only experience our mind and its perceptions.

“To be is to be perceived.” George Berkeley (1685-1783) Not to be perceived is not to be. A tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it – does it make a sound? Does it even exist? Someone must be there to perceive it for it to exist. Tree “To be is to be perceived.” 10

George Berkeley (1685-1783) For Berkeley, the way to make sense of all this is to view God as the “Author of nature” who is always perceiving everything. God guarantees that the world is orderly. He has been criticized for bringing God into the picture because God is not in our sense experience (see, hear, touch, etc.). 11

George Berkeley 1685-1753 Nationality: Irish Group Alliances: "Brutal" British Empiricists AKA: Shark-ley Berkeley No Holds Barred-keley Da Bishop George "You're Berking Up the Wrong Tree" Berkeley Powers: God on his side (not a unique power among Moderns), ninja stealth skills Weaknesses: eye-closing defense is vulnerable to Samuel Johnson's™ Rock-Kicking® attack.

David Hume (1711-1776) Did not accept innate ideas. Did not believe in God. Limits knowledge about the world to sense experience. Distinguished between sense impressions and ideas.

David Hume (1711-1776) Sense impressions occur at the moment something is experienced. Ideas are later thoughts about those sense impressions (hitting thumb with hammer). The impressions are stronger than the idea. 14

David Hume (1711-1776) The idea of something we have not perceived (silver cloud) is a combination of previous impressions of silver and clouds. Hume did not accept the concept of physical substance; perceptions of physical objects, but not substance. 15

David Hume (1711-1776) Substance – the underlying reality of something – its very essence He even rejected the “mind” – it is simply a bundle of perceptions. 16

David Hume (1711-1776) Hume said the idea of God has no basis in sense experience. Since there is no impression of God there can be no idea of God. Hume also argued that “self” is the same – it fails the “impression” test. 17

David Hume (1711-1776) None of these ideas (substance, mind, self, God) can help us understand reality. Skepticism – knowledge is uncertain and absolute knowledge is unattainable. 18

David Hume (1711-1776) What about science and its claims to knowledge? Science and its method of observation is based on the ideas of association. Resemblance Contiguity Cause and effect An idea goes from one idea to another that resembles it. 19

David Hume (1711-1776) Things that are close together (contiguous) have natural associations. Hume said that these associations are not based on logic, but feeling. The pattern of cause and effect is also based on feeling or perception – not logic. 20

David Hume (1711-1776) We want the world to be an orderly place, but in reality the orderliness (cause and effect) is in our own mind – our perception. 21

David Hume (1711-1776) Billiard balls – we conclude the first caused the second to fall into the pocket. We have no real knowledge of this – just observation that one event occurred and then a second occurred. We provide the connection as that of association. Imagination is the foundation of the “cause and effect.” http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/ 22

David Hume (1711-1776) The same thing may happen every time we have observed it, but it may not the next time. Our instinct may tell us it will happen again and we may act on that “confidence” but Hume says that confidence is unfounded. Our instinct tells us there is a cause and effect association, but Hume says we are only kidding ourselves. 23

Hume’s ideas are an example of radical skepticism. Many have questioned the value of philosophy based on Hume’s conclusions. If he is right, there is no point in even trying to understand our world. Others were not so radical – more on this later.

David Hume 1711-1776 Nationality: Scottish Group Alliances: "Brutal" British Empiricists "Scary" Skeptics AKA: Boomin' Hume The Hume-an Time Bomb Doom Hume To Hume Am I Speaking? Powers: Scottish Karate, local skepticism Weaknesses: Never really sure about anything other than the contents of his own experience Notes: Look! Hume's pants are the missing shade of blue!

Rationalists Empiricists We cannot trust our senses. We can know things only through reason. cannot trust our senses. Descartes Spinoza Leibniz Empiricists Meaningful knowledge can be acquired only through our senses. John Locke George Berkeley David Hume 26