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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 is the effect of a passive power?

2. According to Locke, the lack of what would make social life impossible?

3. What does Locke say is the purpose of language?

4. What does Locke say about the form of signs and words?

5. What does Locke say is ultimately grounded in pleasure and pain?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is abstraction, according to Locke?

2. How do we arrive at the essence of an idea?

3. What are three ways in which people abuse words, in Locke's account?

4. What does Locke say words ultimately refer to?

5. Where do the notions of good and evil come from, in Locke's opinion?

6. Who does Locke say is guilty of these abuses?

7. Why are most words general, according to Locke?

8. How does Locke suggest philosophers curb the abuse of words?

9. What do we do when we define a word, in Locke's account?

10. What problem is Locke trying to address with his discussion of identity in consciousness and identity in body?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What makes this book an essay? Is there a better term for it?

Essay Topic 2

How Christian is Locke's philosophy? In what specifics is it Christian, and in what ways does it have allegiances to other forms of religion? Is the ability of the individual to seek his own happiness a substitute for religion in Locke's philosophy? How does Locke's philosophy perform the central task of Christianity, namely of letting people transcend the physical plane, where death exists, and live another eternal life beyond life?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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