John Locke's Primary and Secondary Qualities

Join George and John as they discuss different Philosophical theories. In this video they will be debating John Locke's Primary and Secondary Quality distinction. How much of our reality exists in the mind and what distinctions can we make between mental ideas and a mind independent external world?

The script to this video is part of...
- The Philosophy Vibe - "Philosophy of Perception" eBook, available on Amazon:

- The Philosophy Vibe Paperback Anthology Vol 2 'Metaphysics' available worldwide on Amazon:

0:00 - Introduction
0:41 - Primary and Secondary Quality Distinction
2:37 - Colour Example
3:18 - Hot and Cold Water Example
4:05 - Fire Example
5:04 - Problem with Locke's Primary and Secondary Quality Distinction
6:45 - The Threat of Idealism

#JohnLocke #PrimaryQualities #SecondaryQualities #Philosophy

[PhilosophyVibe]

The script to this video is part of...
- The Philosophy Vibe - "Philosophy of Perception" eBook, available on Amazon:

- The Philosophy Vibe Paperback Anthology Vol 2 'Metaphysics' available worldwide on Amazon:

[rileyklingler]

The stress of my PHIL101 midterm is only a sensation caused by my perception of it, the midterm itself is not stress, but the powers from its primary qualities have allowed me to taste pure rage.

[nesshern]

this channel is single handedly holding me together in my phil101 course

[hussaintariq]

clear and concise. Amazing work. Still helping students after 7 years

[abhisheklimbu]

i love the way you present ideas that are sometimes hard to grasp only through books. Thank You!

[sabafarooquei]

Really wanted too see the awesome team behind this amazing channel who made philosophy (( a veryyy interesting subject))! ❤️❤️Veryy grateful to you💖

[ndiyakholwamqamelo]

I am not a philosophy student, but i still find these vidz interesting, super cool i watched them all.

[miawalz]

These videos are helping me so much in my philosophy class and with my exams, thank you!!

[alecmisra]

Man that was really good, i had been looking for just such info on berkeleys critique of primary and secondary qualities. You seem to have nailed it without going over everyones head.

[Amna.Talpur]

This is very very very good video. Helped me to cover my Philosophy course at university. Many thanks.

[Aris-ybuy]

love this channel. Thanks, guys. Really grasping these concepts

[jonathangumpangkum]

this video is a great explanation for newcomers to Locke's philosophy except it starts getting things wrong beginning at 5:36. "Size", in the way that the interlocutors are using it, is only referring to the apparent size within an individuals visual field and NOT to it the actual space occupied in the 3 spacial dimensions of spacetime. So "size", meaning "extension an object in spacetime" is still correctly a primary quality within Locke's philosophical framework. However, there is a knockdown argument that has been made by other people such as Berkeley (pron. BARK-ly). Try imagining a "colorless" apple. You can't. You're either imagining a white, black, or transparent apple. Another knockdown argument is to argue that Locke has it wrong when he claims that motion is a primary property... which is wrong because general relativity...derp.

[PutingPinoy]

So, I see the problem raised the independent object changing based on the secondary quality...but I still see that Locke’s ideas of extension and primary qualities still hold true. Because those are physical measurements independent from our vantange points which would be a part of secondary qualities. If you are standing close to a building it’s large, if we’re looking at it from afar it’s small. Ok! But it does have a definable measurement. Let’s say it is 160 feet tall. That does not change. Our relationship to it can changed contingent on our proximity to it, it can look small or big but it doesn’t change that it is 160 feet tall.

So I disagree with that particular critique of Locke’s Primary and Secondary qualities and I think it’s applications are powerful when we extend is to the context of political and religious beliefs. It all simply depends upon the way it is all perceived which is informed by information passed to us, information which is almost always biased. For instance, “That building is But what if you’re accustomed to being surrounded by 500 foot skyscrapers? If you simply took the person at their word without you seeing it for yourself, you’d have a particular bias about it until you yourself observed it and came to realize how subjective and it all is.

[RealDonatus]

Trying to read Locke is like running around in a maze, blind drunk, naked, and in the dark. This explanation helped me so much and answered my question regarding how his distinction could at all work (it clearly doesn't). Thank you!

The only other thought I will add is that if all sense data is coming from the mind and is not actually coming from an external source which we can come into contact with and come to "know" then that very statement is also coming from that apparent illusion. Thus, we could never know it to be true. Moreover, such problems lead to the impossibility of epistemology itself as there would be no justifications of claims (including the claim that we are in a mind projected illusion world) thus rendering knowledge impossible. Therefore, such a world would render logic, epistemology, meaning and knowledge itself null and void. Yet here we are, asserting meaning and claiming that the world is a mind projected illusion. As a result, this entire problem I would say could be quashed by simply saying that it is an absurd conclusion. To affirm it would be to deny knowledge and thus refute yourself anyway.

[MelPeters]

I wish philosophy debates in my classroom were that calm.

[rileyrenecker]

Helped me to realize just how much reality is in the mind. It seemed like to took awhile for me to grasp it once I was able to distance myself from emotions. I meditated on the phrase of "trying to make sense of the real world which is a property of solidity" and entered a "dream" that took me to a white concrete house and the only colors I saw were my light blue jeans and a tv with a video playing.

Perhaps meditating on it further will be beneficial.

Thanks for the vids

[Gawgushh]

I LOVE YOU GUYS! you're helping us all so much.

[ihsannuruliman]

I guess the "size" part still makes sense in indirect realism. It depends on what you mean by size. According to Wikipedia, Size is magnitude or dimension of a thing; concept abstracted from the process of measuring by comparing a longer to a shorter or vice versa. If it's the case then it's totally OK with indirect realism. Since it will always be, for example, 100 meters weather you see it from any distance. The actual size will always be 100 meters.

[publicissues]

Good contribution to philosophy students and faculty
Thank you very much 👍

[melissas.]

Watching your video in a study group. We love you!