Week 5: Modern Philosophy — Descartes and Locke

• Meditations I and II — René Descartes — about twelve pages; read slowly, he is doing something on every page
• An Essay Concerning Human Understanding — John Locke (Book I ch. 1–2; Book II ch. 1, 8) — Book II chapter 1 is 'Of Ideas in General'; chapter 8 is primary and secondary qualities

Textbook chapters (Payne): Ch. 4: The Rationalists · Ch. 5: The Empiricists

1. Descartes (1596–1650) wants knowledge as certain as mathematics. His method: doubt everything that can possibly be doubted and see what survives.
2. Meditation I, three waves of doubt: the senses sometimes deceive; I might be dreaming right now; an evil demon might be deceiving me about everything, even arithmetic.
3. Meditation II, the survivor: 'I think, therefore I am' (cogito ergo sum). Even if I am deceived, something must exist to be deceived. I am a thinking thing.
4. The wax argument: a piece of wax changes every sensory property when heated, yet I know it is the same wax. So the mind, not the senses, grasps what things are.
5. Rationalism: some knowledge comes from reason alone, independent of experience. Descartes is the model rationalist.
6. Locke (1632–1704) answers: the mind at birth is a blank slate (tabula rasa). There are no innate ideas; every idea comes from experience — sensation (outer) and reflection (inner).
7. Primary qualities (shape, size, motion, number) are in the object itself. Secondary qualities (color, taste, sound, smell) are powers in the object to produce sensations in us.
8. Empiricism: all knowledge begins in experience. Locke is the model empiricist. Descartes vs. Locke is the modern version of Plato vs. Aristotle — reason vs. observation.

Discussion post

1. State in one sentence: does knowledge start with reason or with experience?
2. Use one example of your own (not the wax, not the apple) and run it through both thinkers.
3. Quote one line from either reading.
4. Two replies that offer a counter-example.

Philosophical Forum 3 — can we be certain of anything?

1. Position: yes / no / only of X — one sentence.
2. Descartes' best argument for your side (or against it), with a Meditation reference.
3. Locke's best argument, with a Book/chapter reference.
4. Your strongest reason.
5. Strongest objection and reply.
6. What certainty, if any, you would want a doctor or a judge to have — and why.

Netiquette from the syllabus: address ideas, not people. Complete sentences, correct spelling. Personal matters go to email, never the board.

Confirm the exact prompt and rubric in Canvas. This outline fits a compare-and-judge essay on Descartes and Locke.

1. Introduction: the question (where does knowledge come from?) and a thesis that picks a side on one specific point.
2. Descartes in his own terms: method of doubt, the three waves, the cogito, the wax — with Meditation I/II references.
3. Locke in his own terms: no innate ideas, sensation and reflection, primary and secondary qualities — with Book/chapter references.
4. Head-to-head on one example you choose; show what each thinker would say and where they disagree.
5. Objection to your thesis, stated fairly.
6. Reply.
7. Conclusion: what your answer means for how we should trust our senses or our reasoning today.
8. Final pass: fallacy check, active voice, citations, rubric, file upload.

Write it in your own words. Cite the reading by author and section. Submit the file in Canvas before the deadline — Late work is not accepted except for a documented emergency (doctor's note, funeral announcement) arranged case by case.

Raise your hand. Mr. James gets a message right away and can help you remotely. Nothing else is stored — just your last name, grade, and where you're stuck.

Ask at home: Descartes said the only thing he couldn't doubt was that he was thinking. What is one thing you are absolutely sure of — and how do you know?

En español: Descartes dijo que lo único que no podía dudar era que estaba pensando. ¿De qué estás absolutamente seguro, y cómo lo sabes?