According to John Locke, a British philosopher, and physician, the mind existed like a blank slate in which experience would be etched. Additionally, his work was the foundation of an empiricist approach to philosophical questions. As such, his approach suggested that reality was the world that caused sensations and the truth was the ability to acquire knowledge of the world through mental concepts as a product of empirical sensations. Other empiricists such as George Berkley hypothesized reality is our perception and ideas of the world while the truth was understanding these perceptions and ideas.
Immanuel Kant was also a vital philosopher of the time who attempted to merge the thinkings of rationalism and empiricism by suggesting that both are essential in understanding the world. Important terms that emerged and are discussed in the chapter include ‘metaphysics’, that which is real, and ‘epistemology’, that which is true (Chaffee, 2015). Another vital concept, the causal theory of perception, hypothesized that there are four separate elements in the process of knowledge acquisition. The first is the entity or object within the world. The second is the sensations that are emitted from the object, often related to the five senses. The third is ideas, which were defined as impressions or images produced in the mind. The fourth referred to the human subject or the and which can then perceive the ideas and investigate them.
Other beliefs of the time also included subjective idealism that proposed that only ideas and conscious minds possess real existence. A similar sentiment was reflected in Berkley’s ‘Law of Nature which proposed that the entire world was simply an idea in God’s mind. Alternatively, skepticism suggested that genuine knowledge was impossible.
Works Cited
Chaffee, John. The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas. 5th edn. Pearson, 2015.