Self in Historical Context (Part Two), The
Continuing his discussion of the self in historical context, philosopher Charles Taylor talks about the progression of ideas about the self from Descartes through John Locke. It was from Locke that what Professor Taylor calls the "punctual self" tha...
Physician-Assisted Suicide
Philosopher Michael Sandel criticizes the argument that the Supreme Court should adopt a neutral position that does not prevent individuals from opting for physician-assisted suicide. Professor Sandel talks about the opposing view, which does not ag...
Does All Knowledge Come from Experience?: John Locke's Empiricism and Its Troublesome Gap
John Locke and later empiricists dispute the rationalists' claim that pure reason could grasp truths about the world. They argue that all knowledge of the world must come through the senses and experience. Locke compares the mind at birth to a tabul...
Knowledge
Philosopher Charles Taylor talks about different understandings of knowledge, beginning with Descartes, who believed that knowledge is inner representation of outer reality.
Locke and the Self
Philosopher Ian Hacking talks about John Locke's idea that the self--or the person one is--depends on what one remembers. Professor Hacking looks at the implications of this idea on jurisprudence, citing a Canadian example of two individuals who bas...
Making Up People
Philosopher Ian Hacking talks about the link between the way we classify and conceptualize actions and how we define those actions, as well as how we act. He notes that these methods of classifying and conceptualizing change over time, which means t...
Is Reason the Source of Knowledge?: Locke and Leibniz Debate Theory of Innate Ideas
The first great 17th century empiricist John Locke borrows many ideas from Descartes. For the most part he accepts the corpuscular theory, but flatly rejects the notion of innate ideas about the world. Gottfried Leibniz concedes that innate ideas ar...
Changes in Our Conception of Human Nature (Part One)
Philosopher Ian Hacking talks about changes in the way human nature has been viewed over time. From the time of Aristotle through the Enlightenment, human nature was seen as being an essential characteristic of what it is to be human, in which the v...
What Justifies the State?: Right to Dissent, The
Philosopher John supports the people's right to dissent against tyrannical regimes. The major problem Locke attributes to the state of nature without government is the difficulty of protecting personal property. The kind of government that is create...
What Justifies the Power of the State? (Part Two)
Philosopher Michael Sandel talks about the views of government held by John Locke and Aristotle. According to Professor Sandel, Locke believed "government was founded on consent." As for Aristotle, Professor Sandel explains that he thought politics ...