Why We Think the Things We Think

the way of truth and the way of opinion.

Locke divided qualities into two categories. The first category, primary qualities, are the aspects that all objects possess, such as size, shape, matter and motion. Secondary qualities are aspects which Locke suggests can be either added to or removed from an object, such as colours, sounds, temperatures and textures

Locke, the human mind begins with a blank slate or tabula rasa that is filled with ideas through experiences. Knowledge is gained through two methods, which Locke termed ‘sensation’ and ‘reflection’. Sensation relates to the five human senses and gives rise to concepts such as sounds, smells, colours, shapes and tastes. Reflection relates to processes in our internal world, thoughts and memories, reasoning and argument

Both Plato and Socrates seem to be siding with a subjectivist approach with regards to beauty: that all knowledge, and therefore by extension our knowledge of beauty, is defined by the experiences of the self and our sensory perceptions. In this respect, beauty is in the eye of the beholder

beauty could be related to the senses – the sights, sounds and smells that provoke pleasure

Or in other words, all events must have a cause, which determines the outcome

reality is already pre-determined or pre-existent and, therefore, nothing new can ever occur as all events are simply the effects of other prior effects

Why is there something rather than nothing?) are a clear influence on his thought

Strong sense, united to delicate sentiment, improved by practice, perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice, can alone entitle critics to this valuable character

The argument that humans are victims of pre-determined fate and subject to forces over which we have no control, such as class, race, gender and religion, is to live according to bad faith.