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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. What does Locke claim separates mankind from all other creatures on earth?

2. What is the contemporary name for Locke's field of inquiry?

3. How does Locke describe reflection?

4. Which predecessor is Locke attacking with his discussion of understanding?

5. What are modes, according to Locke?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Locke define abstraction?

2. In what way is knowledge limited, according to Locke?

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

4. How does Locke define retention?

5. What does Locke say about sensations experienced in the womb?

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

7. How does Locke define practical principles?

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

9. Describe the two kinds of ideas Locke describes.

10. How does Locke define the faculty of perception?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Locke protect his philosophy against the skepticism of Hume and Descartes? What arguments specifically does he refute, and what arguments does he leave himself open to? (Do you think the question of whether innate knowledge exists can be answered?)

Essay Topic 2

In what way has modern society changed our view of Locke's philosophy? Choose a technology or form of knowledge that forces us to reevaluate Locke's philosophy, and describe how Locke would incorporate or account for it.

Essay Topic 3

What was the historical effect of Locke's philosophy? What preceded it, and what proceeded from it? What historical development can Locke's work be seen as a part of? Describe his place in that development.

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