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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where do primary qualities originate, according to Locke?

2. What does Locke say about this standard for whether an idea is innate?

3. What idea does NOT come from sensation, according to Locke?

4. Which is NOT a method Locke describes for forming a complex idea?

5. What example does Locke use for an idea that is innate?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does Locke define discerning?

4. How does Locke define the faculty of perception?

5. What does Locke say happens if two people have the same idea about a thing?

6. How does Locke define practical principles?

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

8. What is the difference between natural principles and innate principles?

9. What example does Locke use of natural principles?

10. Describe the two kinds of ideas Locke describes.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would a society predicated on the idea of innate knowledge differ from a society predicated on a Lockean epistemology in which knowledge is shaped by experience? Compare and contrast these societies.

Essay Topic 2

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence?

Essay Topic 3

In the beginning of "Essay Concerning Human Understanding," Locke says that variability in people's ideas undermines the possibility of innate knowledge. Analyzing Locke's writing, describe how Locke accounts for variability in his own philosophy. How does he keep it from being a disruptive force in his own philosophy?

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