The objects of sensation one source of ideas. First, our Senses, conversant about particular sensible objects, do convey into the mind several distinct perceptions of things, according to those various ways wherein those objects do affect them. And thus we come by those ideas we have of yellow, white, heat, cold, soft, hard, bitter, sweet, and all those which we call sensible qualities; which when I say the senses convey into the mind, I mean, they from external objects convey into the mind what produces there those perceptions. This great source of most of the ideas we have, depending wholly upon our senses, and derived by them to the understanding, I call SENSATION.
The operations of our minds, the other source of them. Secondly, the other fountain 5 from which experience furnisheth the understanding with ideas is, the perception of
the operations of our own mind within us, as it is employed about the ideas it has got; which operations, when the soul comes to reflect on and consider, do furnish
This selection is taken from the beginning of Book Two, "Of Ideas." The "foregoing book" refers to Book One, "Of Innate Notions." 3. White paper: Though An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is generally considered the source of the term tabula rasa, or "blank slate," Locke himself never uses either term. "White paper" is as close as he comes.
the understanding with another set of ideas, which could not be had from things without. And such are perception, thinking, doubting, believing, reasoning, knowing, willing, and all the different actings of our own minds; which we being conscious of, and observing in ourselves, do from these receive into our understandings as distinct ideas as we do from bodies affecting our senses. This source of ideas every man has wholly in himself; and though it be not sense, as having nothing to do with external objects, yet it is very like it, and might properly enough be called internal sense. But as I call the other SENSATION, so I call this REFLECTION, the ideas it affords being such only as the mind gets by reflecting on its own operations within itself. By reflection then, in the following part of this discourse, I would be understood to mean, that notice which the mind takes of its own operations, and the manner of them, by reason whereof there come to be ideas of these operations in the understanding. These two, I say, viz. external material things, as the objects of SENSATION, and the operations of our own minds within, as the objects of REFLECTION, are to me the only originals from whence all our ideas take their beginnings. The term operations here I use in a large sense, as comprehending not barely the actions of the mind about its ideas, but some sort of passions arising sometimes from them, such as is the satisfaction or uneasiness arising from any thought.
5. All our ideas are of the one or the other of these. The understanding seems to me not to have the least glimmering of any ideas which it doth not receive from one of these two. External objects furnish the mind with the ideas of sensible qualities, which are all those different perceptions they produce in us; and the mind furnishes the understanding with ideas of its own operations.
These, when we have taken a full survey of them, and their several modes, combinations, and relations, we shall find to contain all our whole stock of ideas; and that we have nothing in our minds which did not come in one of these two ways. Let any one examine his own thoughts, and thoroughly search into his understanding; and then let him tell me, whether all the original ideas he has there, are any other than of the objects of his senses, or of the operations of his mind, considered as objects of his reflection. And how great a mass of knowledge soever he imagines to be lodged there, he will, upon taking a strict view, see that he has not any idea in his mind but what one of these two have imprinted; though perhaps, with infinite variety compounded and enlarged by the understanding. . . .
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
What examples of "ideas" does Locke use to begin this passage? Is his list representative of the kinds of ideas that a person might have? Can you think of kinds of ideas that might not fit easily into his theory (i.e., ideas that do not appear to be based on either sensation or reflection)?
What does Locke present as the two subcategories of experience? Do you agree that neither of these contain innate ideas? Explain.
What does Locke mean by the term "sensible qualities"? How are such qualities experienced as ideas? What examples of this kind of idea does he give?
What kinds of "operations of our own minds" does Locke include under the heading "reflection"? Do you agree with him that these mental operations constitute a "kind of internal sense"? Explain.
What appeal does Locke make to the reader at the end of this passage? How does he suggest that his ideas can be empirically tested and verified?
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Locke and Hobbes (p. 94) are often thought of as polar opposites of Enlightenment political theory. Do the brief selections from Locke and Hobbes in this section confirm this? Why or why not?
Many modern scientists, including Edward O. Wilson (p. 356), reject Locke's idea of the human mind as a blank slate. The mind, they argue, has been "written on" by genes and contains innate perceptions that are common to all cultures. How do you think Locke might have responded to Wilson and others who argue for an innate, genetically determined human nature?
WRITING ABOUT THE TEXT
Write an essay comparing Locke's view of human nature with that of Mencius (p. 78) and Hsun Tzu (p. 84). How would Locke respond to the argument between these two ancient Confucians?
Refute Locke's theory that human beings are born "blank slates" with no innate ideas. Argue against it from a religious or a scientific perspective.
Write an essay in which you discuss the political implications of both Locke's and Hobbes's (p. 94) views of human nature. Conduct research into each author's actual political philosophies and discuss whether or not they flow logically from the brief passages in this chapter.
Two Pictures of the Brain
[1891 and 2007]
SINCE THE DAYS of the ancient physicians Hippocrates and Galen, people have known—or at least suspected—that the brain houses all human thoughts, perceptions, and emotions. But for nearly all of human history, the way the brain works has been a complete mystery. Until the second half of the twentieth century, scientists lacked the tools to study the brain at any level of detail and, for thousands of years, "brain science," even in top universities, was a patchwork of supposition, folklore, and dubious received wisdom.
One early form of brain science was called phrenology, invented in Germany in the late eighteenth century and popular throughout Europe and America for much of the nineteenth century. Phrenologists believed that every part of the brain had a different function and that it was possible to understand a person's temperament by measuring the shape of his or her skull. Practitioners of phrenology developed elaborate brain maps, such as the one reprinted here from the 1891 reference work How to Read Character: A New Illustrated Hand-Book of Phrenology and Physiognomy, for Students and Examiners; with a Descriptive Chart by Samuel Wells. These charts supposedly illustrated where different characteristics originated in the brain in order to make informed judgments about a person's character.
Phrenology's fundamental assumptions have long been debunked and reputable scientists now consider it a pseudoscience. Over the last twenty years, a new, much more sophisticated science called neuroimaging has attempted to do many of the same things that the phrenologists did—with often spectacular results. One method contemporary neuroscientists use is a procedure called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which enables them to take pictures of the brain. With these pictures, they can see which areas of the brain receive more blood flow when people are engaged in different activities, such as sleeping, reading, arguing, praying, or solving complex problems. Another type of imaging is seen in the image of a positron emission tomography (PET) scan that follows the phrenology chart. This scan allows doctors to see how a brain is functioning and if it may be suffering from a disease, like the one produced here, which contrasts a healthy brain with one suffering from depression.