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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Locke say is his purpose in "Essay Concerning Human Understanding"?
(a) To pin down the mystical origins of understanding.
(b) To break understanding into its parts.
(c) To reconcile the tension between modes of understanding.
(d) To define a unified theory of understanding.

2. What does Locke show about the ideas people claim are innate?
(a) That they are culturally relative.
(b) That they are questionable.
(c) That they are determined by cultural forces.
(d) That not everyone believes them.

3. Where do primary qualities originate, according to Locke?
(a) Things themselves.
(b) They do not originate.
(c) Experiences.
(d) Interactions.

4. What is substance, according to Locke?
(a) The abstraction of a thing.
(b) The essence of a thing.
(c) Separation between things.
(d) The history of a thing.

5. How does Locke say ideas change over time?
(a) They degrade.
(b) They loosen up.
(c) They solidify.
(d) They ossify.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Locke say about sensations that an infant feels in utero?

2. Which concept was beyond the sphere of Locke's inquiry?

3. How does Locke define perception?

4. What happens to a particular idea when you practice abstraction?

5. How does Locke describe the work principles do?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Locke's account of the primary and secondary qualities of things.

2. What is the difference between sensation and reflection, in Locke's account?

3. How does Locke define abstraction?

4. What example does Locke use of natural principles?

5. What benefits do humans receive from understanding, according to Locke?

6. How does Locke use the concept of number in his discussion of primary qualities?

7. What does Locke mean when he says that the mind is a blank slate?

8. How does Locke define practical principles?

9. How does Locke define retention?

10. In what way is understanding limited, according to Locke?

(see the answer keys)

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