Bennett and Lennon on Locke

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how John Locke's distinction between ideas and qualities, outlined in his "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding", would become a point of contention between Jonathan Bennett and Thomas Lennon. In particular, the paper takes a look at Bennet's book "Learning from Six Philosophers" and Lennon's critical article "Bennett on Ideas and Qualities in Locke's Essay". The paper concludes that Locke can be confusing at times because the distinction between ideas and qualities is not always clearly drawn in the text, but the ideas are more clear when closely examined by later thinkers.

From the Paper:

"In 1996, Jonathan Bennett offered his own version of a standard objection raised against Locke, that the distinction between ideas and qualities is ill-formed and exposes a fundamental confusion about ideas and qualities that runs throughout Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Bennett says that Locke tends to use the word "idea" to mean "quality." Bennett also says that the distinction is intended to be clear and that Locke addresses it by stating that whatever the mind perceives in itself is an idea, while qualities are those "ideas" that are produced I the mind by sensation of the object and quality in question. Locke uses a snowball as an example and says the snowball itself produces the ideas of white, cold, and round. These are qualities because they are ideas that are in the snowball and then imparted to the mind as the mind experiences the snowball."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bennett, Jonathan. Learning from Six Philosophers Vol. 2 New York: Oxford U.P. 2002.
• Lennon, Thomas. "Bennett on Ideas and Qualities in Locke's Essay." Locke Newsletter 29, 13-21.
• Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Ed. R. Woolhouse. London: Penguin, 1997.

More papers on Bennett and Lennon on Locke:

• Analytical Essay # 132743 : "Locke on Ideas and Qualities"
• Comparison Essay # 145494 : "Locke, Berkeley and Hume on Human Thought"
• Comparison Essay # 31931 : "Locke and Rousseau on the Social Contract"

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