Chapter XX - Locke

CHAPTER XX--LOCKE

I. AN ARGUMENT WITH SOPHIE'S MOTHER RESULTS IN HER SEEING THE ATHENS TAPE. WHAT IS THE COINCIDENCE SHE NOTICES, AND IS THERE SUCH A THING (p 255)?

A. HILDE'S FATHER IS "CLOSING IN:'" THE "GREAT TURNING POINT IS AT HAND", (p. 255).

B. CONTROL OF SOPHIE’S BEHAVIOR--is the influence of ALBERTO too dangerous?

C. SOPHIE PLAYS TAPE OF ALBERTO IN ATHENS - ALBERTO LOOKS LIKE THE MAJOR. (P. 255).APPARENTLY SOPHIE AND HILDE APPROACH A TURNING POINT.

1. recall the philosophy of Spinoza and Descartes
2. use this chapter to make a synthesis...

D. IS HIS LAST NAME KNAG OR KNOX? (P. 255). --remember what the task of philosophy is?

II. NOTE FROM HILDE’S FATHER ABOUT ALL BECOMING CLEAR--BERKELEY WILL BE A CLUE

III. TOMORROW IS HILDE’S AND SOPHIE’S BIRTHDAY

IV. WE RECALL EARLIER (P. 62) THAT HERMES NEVER ACTS MORE CLEVER THAN HE IS, AND THAT CONSEQUENTLY LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT ALBERTO COULD BE GLEANED FROM HIM, BUT ON PAGE 256, HERMES TALKS, WISHING SOPHIE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY. HOW? DID THE MAJOR TEACH HERMES TO SPEAK? (P. 257)

V. EMPIRICISM IS A PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE TO COUNTER THE RATIONALISM OF THE 17TH C--OF SPINOZA, and DESCARTES...

A. EMPIRICISM AND PHILOSOPHICAL SKEPTICISM--LOCKE, BERKELEY AND HUME.

B. KNOWLEDGE IS DERIVED FROM THE SENSES:

1. REFERENCE IS ARISTOTLE--the mind contains what the senses put there.
2. WHAT DO WE KNOW OF GOD AND THE SOUL?

VI. LOCKE’S ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING...

A. BLANK SLATE--note carefully the importance of this analogy, (P. 259 ff).

B. SIMPLE AND COMPLEX IDEAS.

C. SENSATION AND REFLECTION.

D. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY QUALITIES.

VII. IT IS POSSIBLE BY REASON TO KNOW GOD? ANSWER THIS QUESTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NOVEL...WHAT MOST FRUSTRATES SOPHIE?

A. REASONABLE CHRISTIANITY--how is religion being redefined?

B. SOCIAL CONTRACT--will the meaning of UTOPIA change?

C. INFLUENCE ON MILL--what did Mill most fear in a democracy?

D. RISE OF DEMOCRACY-is philosophy the catalyst?

EXERCISE


TABULA RASA		POSIT THIS TO BE REALITY INDEPENDENT OF THE MIND


	IDEAS DEVELOP FROM THE SIMPLE TO THE COMPLEX BASED ON SENSE PERCEPTION OBSERVATIONS.... ice cream / kitchen / crying / laughing / mother / father TO time / duration / discipline / love / hope / control

QUESTION: IF THESE IDEAS WERE COMBINED, AND THE TABULA RASA STARTED TO CONTAIN CONTENT, WHAT MIGHT THE CHILD CONCLUDE ABOUT REALITY?


	REMEMBER THAT IN PHILOSOPHY A GREAT DEAL DEPENDS ON POINT OF VIEW... RECALL WHY POINT OF VIEW IN THE LITERARY SENSE IS SO IMPORTANT FOR SOPHIE (AND US). IF AT THIS MOMENT IN THE NOVEL, YOU WERE ASKED TO DEFINE THE MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

SUGGESTED READINGS

Please check the Supplementary Reading page and reference SECTION 5--read the Locke excerpt.

Click here for an excellent site on Locke, from Stanford including a biography and links to primary sources.

A GUIDE TO LOCKE'S ESSAY ON HUMAN UNDERSTANDING with links to primary sources