John Locke is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers not only in his era but also throughout histories. Most of his ideas are still being seen today as accurate and convincing. His works cover a considerably wide range of fields including medicine, politics, and philosophy (Newman, 2007). In fact, he began his professional career as a medical doctor but switched to philosophy and political science. Even Thomas Jefferson, who helped America gain independence from Britain more than a century after Locke was born, drew illustrations from his works and included some of his idea in the United States Constitution. One of Locke’s most famous and widely accepted writings is An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which took him almost two decades to write. In this book, he claims that one is born with a mind like a blank page (Anstey, 2015; Leach and Tartaglia, 2016). This blank page starts getting filled up from the earliest stages of life mostly through one’s experiences. Thus, people will tend to develop differently since they are exposed to varied experiences. Locke provides a clear explanation of the concept of knowledge and assent in this book and even provides a distinction between the two. This paper evaluates Locke’s theories of knowledge and assent and illustrates how these theories are in line with the idea that no one possesses innate knowledge.
John Locke’s Background and Accomplishments
John Locke was born in Bristol, England in 1632. He belonged to a Puritan family, with his father holding the position of Attorney General. It is important to note that Locke’s father was a member of the parliamentary army which tried to oust the monarchy during the Civil War in England (Jackson, 2012). Through Alexander Popham, an influential politician and his father’s close friend, Locke was admitted to the Westminster School, which was the leading school in the country during that period. Later, Locke was elected to a Studentship at Christ Church Oxford in 1652. This Studentship was conditionally tenable for life. Seeing his potential in the political arena, Locke’s father attempted to make him a minister, but Locke showed less interest in active politics and opted to study medicine.
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At Oxford, Locke was significantly influenced by the ideas of John Owen, who was the Dean of the College. For instance, Locke embraced Owen’s ideology that one should not be subjected to punishment just because they hold unconventional religious views. While Locke still held on to his opposition of the Catholic Church, since he was a Protestant, he became increasingly tolerant to their denomination. It was also in Oxford that Locke first interacted with philosophical literature (Jackson, 2012). Particularly, he studied the works of French thinker and mathematician Rene Descartes. Soon after, he started coming up with his own theories. For instance, he built on Descartes’ idea that all human beings have the ability to reason by adding that people develop reason and can, as a result, reasonably settle conflicts by searching for a middle ground which would see both conflicting parties compromising.
Even after finishing college education, Locke continued reading and studying various topics revolving around politics, medicine, and philosophy. In many dissertations, he demonstrated his opinion regarding the freedom of religion and human rights especially in the context of England. However, in the early 1980s, his views were considered by the English government to be inciting and therefore a threat to the king’s authority (Jackson, 2012). Thus, England was no longer safe for Locke as he had to flee the country, with Holland his destination. In 1989, when the Glorious Revolution had compelled the reigning British monarch to accept the authority of the English Parliament and adhere to a Bill of Rights that limited the king’s power, Locke returned to England (Vaughn, 2012). Locke was never quiet both in voice and writing concerning his support of this revolution and the danger of according the monarch with unlimited power (Shand, 2014). Locke often pointed out that people have the ability to reason and think on their own, an idea he held as early as when he was still a college student.
It can be suggested that is such experiences that mostly influenced Locke’s works in the latter stages of his life. Of importance to this paper is his theory regarding knowledge and assent (Shand, 2014). Most of Locke’s ideas on this topic can be found in his book, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, as well as other dissertations. It is outstanding, however, that most of his ideas concerning knowledge, particularly, are contrary to Descartes’, yet it was this philosopher’s works that influenced his interest in the field of philosophy. Locke’s assertions regarding knowledge and assent and the distinction between these two phenomena are still relevant today and have attracted many students of philosophy to his school of thought. These ideologies the main focus of this paper and are covered in greater depth in the next section.
Throughout his life, Locke was always ready to stand up for what he thought was right, regardless of any opposition. His ideas were at times sharply contrasting to what was conventionally accepted at the time, but he only focused on what he considered to be fact (Shand, 2014). This attribute earned him plenty of praise as well as rebuke especially from his peers and the authorities. At the least, he was influential in his era and was appointed in various leadership positions. For instance, in 1696 he became a member of Council of Trade and Plantation. Over the following four years, had to perform the burdensome that came with the position but at a salary of £1,000, which was considerably high at the time. Locke resigned from the Board in 1700, which marked the end of his professional career outside his writing endeavors.
John never married or have any children throughout his lifetime. While his professional life was a matter of public interest, he was reserved in his personal life and chose the company of only a few friends, mostly for professional reasons. However, he had a very close female friend, Lady Damaris Cudworth Masham (Newman, 2007). In fact, he lived with Damaris and her husband at Oates in High Laver, Essex, during the final decade of his life. John Locke died on October 28, 1704, while Damaris was reading him from the Book of Psalms. He was buried in the churchyard of High Laver.
Locke’s Theory of Knowledge and Assent
Similar to the Cartesians and Platonists, Locke argued that there was a clear distinction between knowledge and assent. The only difference he had with these two groups was the manner in which he ground and placed this distinction. Thus, according to Locke, universal knowledge does not, in any way, possess unique objects, whether intrinsic intellectual ideas or a superior intelligible world in the psyche of a higher being – God in this case (Newman, 2007; O'Brien, 2016). Universal knowledge differs from belief mostly in the nature of how ideas correlate in the human mind. In general knowledge, the connection or disagreement of ideas tend to be perceived. On the other hand, belief involves presumption based on something inessential to “what one believes” (Anstey, 2015; Parry, 2013). It follows that pursuing proof yields knowledge of inference while accepting the same inference on the basis of mathematics gives only belief. Locke adds that, in the context of “sensitive knowledge” of a given existence, the thing one knows to be a fact, one actually believes (Allen, 2013). Such belief comes from mere inference or acceptance of testimony regarding such an existence.
Degrees of Knowledge
According to Locke, knowledge, like assent, is subject to “degrees.” In this way, then there are both degrees of evidence, as there are of probability. In the case of knowledge, the first degree of evidence is intuitive knowledge. In Locke’s argument, he compares the perception of the human mind to truth to the manner in which the eye recognizes light. It is only when truth is directed toward the mind that the latter would perceive the former (Anstey, 2015; Pojman and Vaughn, 2009). It follows that intuition is conclusive and therefore leaves no space for skepticism or evaluation.
The next degree is referred to as demonstrative knowledge. In the case of demonstrative knowledge, the truth is observed via the existence of a single of a chain of “intermediate” ideas. Mistakes or doubt may occur at any stage in the sequence with regard to links that are not presently in view. As a result, according to Locke, one is “very likely to hold on to untruths for demonstration” (Newman, 2007; Pojman and Vaughn, 2009). To present this point more elaborately, Locke offers a geometrical model for his theory of intermediate ideas. He draws his example from the lines used in the transitional steps of the Euclidean proof which enables one to conclude that the angles of a triangle are identical to the angle of a straight line. With such an explanation, Locke’s view of intuition may appear to be in line with Cartesian philosophy. However, his conception varies considerably with the Cartesian on in that he holds that the ideas which are born out of intuition are fundamentally objects of imagination and somewhat, of sense. Regarding his geometrical example, Locke states that the lines and angles considered may be graphically represented on a piece of paper, carved in marble, or only imagined in one’s mind. Thus, it is possible to accurately imagine a necessary connection between two or more ideas. Furthermore, unlike many prominent philosophers like Descartes, Locke fails to embrace the pretenses of suggested analytical techniques used to explore self-evident perspectives from which phenomena can be inferred.
Locke gives sensitive knowledge as the third degree of knowledge. Sensitive knowledge involves the “existence or simultaneity of qualities in peripheral objects” (Newman, 2007). As compared to other degrees of knowledge, Locke’s explanation of sensitive knowledge is somewhat cautious. Regardless, he strives to offer a description that is in line with his general conception of the definition of knowledge. This philosopher concludes that “sensitive knowledge of existence” amounts to the understanding that something peripheral is the root of an idea of sense. It follows that whatever is “known” in sensitive knowledge is recognized directly, and not inferred but observed (Allen, 2013). It is important to note that Locke gave this definition during a period when it was widely presumed that knowledge. In its entirety, consists of only knowledge of demonstrated science, first principles, and to some extent, instinctive knowledge. Locke argues that such a statement significantly exaggerates the extent of sensory knowledge. He holds that sensory knowledge does not equal or transcend knowledge that is based on demonstration or intuition. Regardless, he concedes that sensitive knowledge offers a level of intermediate certainty and is therefore worthy of being considered as knowledge.
Forms of Agreement
Still on the topic of knowledge, Locke presents another kind of categorization, referred to as the “forms of agreement.” There are four propositional connections between ideas, including identity, relation, essential coexistence, and existence. Locke uses such redundancies as “black is not white” and “bronze is bronze” to describe “identity” (Newman, 2007). He concludes that intuitive knowledge of such identities as color and material is obtained by mere discernment. Identity also includes such truths as “steel is metal” or “steel is malleable,” when the item in this scenario is included in one’s understanding of the nature of steel. In stating so, Locke suggests that “identity” entails all perspectives including those that are verbal and trivial.
The other three categories are somewhat similar in that they include all “instructive” perspectives. “Relation,” which Locke introduces given his previous difficulty in developing an elaborate discussion of the relevance of mathematics in this topic, is also an illustration of his dismissal of analytical techniques used in science. “Relation”, together with geometrical maxims and statements, apparently involve more interesting perspectives from Locke (Newman, 2007). For instance, he holds that for there to be a change, then there has to be a power responsible for such a change. It follows, therefore, that for an object to exist, then something must have existed before to bring about this object’s existence. This “thing” that existed before must have been preceded by another “thing”. Thus, something must have been in existence from the beginning of time. Locke adds that a maker has unlimited rights over what has been made.
In his discussion of the categorical principles concerning natural things, Locke holds that such things belong to “existence” or “essential coexistence”. He insists that the existence of any natural thing is known intuitively, the existence of a sovereign being demonstratively, and the actuality of objects by sense. “Essential coexistence” maintains that there is a complex relationship between actual and universal perspectives (Newman, 2007). To be clearer, certain coexistences are observed merely by sense. For instance, one may perceive that gold is both yellowish and heavy. At the same time, it is possible to observe by sense that such qualities coexist with the proposition that gold is also malleable, even without observing any necessary relations between these properties. On the other hand, Locke contends that there are essential connections in the case of universal perspectives even if they are often unperceivable. Given that he asserts that a natural science with a foundation on the necessity of substances is yet to be achieved, he provides an inadequate range of examples of observable essential relations. For instance, he points out that “if a thing is solid, then it is impassable” and “an object will move if it is hit by another”. It may be deduced, from such examples, that the laws of inertia are essential whereas the law of gravity is born out of experience. At the moment when knowledge has been determined to be lacking, any belief regarding universal coexistences may be inductively founded on sensitive knowledge of actual coexistences. For instance, a belief that salting preserves food, if one presumes unobserved relations, consists descriptive natural “history” rather than “science.” Overall, if the notion of a given quality is inferable from the notion of a substance, this is only due to the fact that the basis of the said quality is an identity. Meaning, universal perceptions regarding substances, if definite, are immaterial and, if “instructive”, are indefinite.
Assent
The degrees of assent, as described by Locke, include belief, assumption, reservation, wavering, distrust, and disapproval. These degrees are regulated entirely by probability. For instance, when assent is found to be illogical, it constitutes “error.” Reasonable assent is measured in terms of the perspective’s uniformity with one’s experience or the testament of other thinkers (Newman, 2007). Locke discusses four distinct degrees of probability involving “matters of fact”, including when the overall opinion of others is in line with one’s experience, when one’s experience and testament imply that a given perceptive is accurate for the most part, when unanticipated spectators state what experience approves may as well be inaccurate, and when the events in history and witness reports vary sharply with what is expected according to nature, or with each other. In the fourth scenario, there are no “actual rules” for evaluating probability (Newman, 2007). In all of the other cases, there are precise rules that may employed to assess probability. Even though Locke introduces probability as critical to epistemology, belief is often considered to be a suitable substitute for knowledge.
Locke’s use of belief a surrogate for knowledge would seem bold but the explanations he gives for his statements, particularly the role of will in cognition, vindicate him of any criticism regarding this matter. According to Locke, knowledge resembles sense perception in such a way that one may pick how and where hard to focus, but afterward they are unable to choose what to see (Hyman, 2015). Assent, too, is out of the control of mankind in that after considerable assessment on a given issue, one cannot manage what their belief. At the same time everyone is morally culpable for both ignorance and error since they are born out of one’s failure to employ their abilities as required. Locke goes further in examining the causes of error and adds that physiology play a significant role in the occurrence of error. In fact his description of error is similar to his description of madness. According to the philosopher, one is liable for error when they obstruct both assent and knowledge, by hindering investigation and failing to use their abilities adequately in their quest for the truth (Newman, 2007; Pojman and Vaughn, 2009). In other words when one does not employ their facilities in search of the truth, then they give room for assent that is facilitated by personal interests and desires. However, Locke concedes that it is human nature that sometimes personal interests and desires prevail and influence one’s will between enquiry stage and the judgment stage.
Personal Influence
Locke is selected in this paper because his ideas coincide with my school of thought, which holds that one does not have, at any point of their life, innate knowledge. For instance, new-born babies and a greater portion of illiterate people do not possess knowledge that is alleged to be innate. Supporters of idealism fail in their assertion that mankind possesses innate knowledge since this implies that the human mind can harbor ideas without being aware of them. While the knowledge of some ideas is present in early stages of development, a thorough assessment reveals that such truths are acquired rather than inborn. If such truths were innate then proposing them to gain assent would be irrelevant (O'Brien, 2016). In other words, an inborn and unknown truth is a contradiction in terms.
Conclusions
This paper provides an elaborate discussion of John Locke’s theories of knowledge and assent and includes some of his major ideas regarding this topic. The paper also includes a section of the philosopher’s background to try and demonstrate what influenced his career path and choices as well as provide an understanding of Locke as a person. Most of the discussion is based on the contents of Locke’s book, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. In this essay Locke intends to investigate the origin of ideas and demonstrate the meaning of certainty, the evidence, and the degree of one’s knowledge. Additionally, his aim is to compel philosophy to drop what transcends human understanding by clearly marking the boundaries of its capacity. It can be concluded that Locke’s theories of knowledge as well as assent are in line with the idea that no one possess innate knowledge. Meaning, whatever one considers to be true is acquired rather than innate.
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