Descartes v. Locke Rene Descartes and John Locke are two philosophers of the 17th century who study on what the self is and how the mind and body are associated together. Although Descartes and Locke share some ideas, they do have different and significant examples explaining their beliefs. Rene Descartes has 6 Meditations in a treatise written by himself called “Meditations on First Philosophy” in which 3 are important. Two of the important Meditations are the 5th and 6th Meditations and they talk about the essence and existence of material things. Additionally, the 2nd Meditation was important in which Descartes brings a specific example involving wax in which there are 2 qualities; primary and secondary. Locke, who interpreted Descartes’
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At the point the wax melted, Descartes discovered the different smell, looks, and feels but he knew that it was still considered wax. He concluded from that point that an object that changes is still an object and that we rely on our senses and mind to decipher what is really in front of us. We as humans see things take up space in this world meaning they are physical. We as humans see things in our minds and they do not appear in front of us, so, they are not physical. As a result, there is a strong reason as to why we know material objects and that is because they have 2 qualities; primary and secondary. Primary qualities will not be affected by your mind and secondary qualities will be. An example of a primary quality is that if someone sees a cube, it cannot be argued that it will be a sphere meaning that it is a fact, so it cannot be changed by the mind. Secondary qualities can be changed based on senses or mind because of experience. We see blue, but with experience we transcribe that blue as Navy Blue; the secondary qualities can be changed. Having the primary qualities and secondary qualities of the wax (physical object) change is what Descartes explained as our mind recognizing the essence of the wax, and identifying it even if it changes physically. If something is changing physically in front of us, then that it is a material
At the point the wax melted, Descartes discovered the different smell, looks, and feels but he knew that it was still considered wax. He concluded from that point that an object that changes is still an object and that we rely on our senses and mind to decipher what is really in front of us. We as humans see things take up space in this world meaning they are physical. We as humans see things in our minds and they do not appear in front of us, so, they are not physical. As a result, there is a strong reason as to why we know material objects and that is because they have 2 qualities; primary and secondary. Primary qualities will not be affected by your mind and secondary qualities will be. An example of a primary quality is that if someone sees a cube, it cannot be argued that it will be a sphere meaning that it is a fact, so it cannot be changed by the mind. Secondary qualities can be changed based on senses or mind because of experience. We see blue, but with experience we transcribe that blue as Navy Blue; the secondary qualities can be changed. Having the primary qualities and secondary qualities of the wax (physical object) change is what Descartes explained as our mind recognizing the essence of the wax, and identifying it even if it changes physically. If something is changing physically in front of us, then that it is a material