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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 does Locke say we see the origin of our idea of number?

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

3. What does Locke say we about words that cannot be defined any further?

4. What is the consequence of using words to refer to personal ideas, according to Locke?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is abstraction, according to Locke?

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

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

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

5. What does Locke say is the only way to understand the properties of things?

6. How does Locke resolve the debate between determinists and libertarians?

7. Give an example of active powers.

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

9. What does Locke say is the difference between a free will and a free agent?

10. Where does Locke say our conception of 'number' comes from?

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

Locke speculates that desire is unhappiness in the absence of previous delight--how does he handle the question of original experience, and how could his philosophy respond to the doctrine of original sin?

Essay Topic 3

Locke's definition of experience and language is based solely on individual experience--but what is the role of the family in promoting certain knowledge and restricting or prohibiting other kinds of knowledge? Does Locke account for teachers and parents in his arguments about knowledge and experience?

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