Philosophy 1140 Empiricism. Quiz 3. 02.07.00
Name_____________________
Which of the following properties of a liter of water is a relational property?
- The property of having a mass of 1000 grams.
- The property of taking up 1000 cubic centimeters of space.
- The property of being able to dissolve sugar.
- The property of turning into a solid at or below 0 degrees centigrade.
[A relational property is a property something has in virtue of both some feature it sas AS WELL AS some feature of something else. Mass, size, and freezing point don't depend on anything else being the way it is -- they depend only on the water's properties. But ability to dissolve sugar depends on sugar being the way it is. If sugar were different, water might not be able to dissolve it.]
Locke claims that what we need in order to answer questions of identities is
- A tertium quid
- A principium individuationis
- A non sequitur
- A res cogitans
[This is the phrase he uses.]
Locke gives the same treatment to the identity of finite spirits and particles of matter. The decisive factor in their identity is:
- Their qualities.
- Their relations to other spirits and particles of matter.
- Their beginning in time and space.
- The War of 1812.
[We discussed this ad nauseam.]
- The identity of all the particles that comprise the mass.
- The mass's location in space and time.
- The size, position and motion of the mass.
- The ability of the mass to effect our sense organs.
[We also discussed this. Locke says that only if all the constituent particles are identical is the mass the same mass. BUT, Locke also says in another context that location in space is decisive, but this only applies to telling AT ONE TIME if two masses are identical. I'll think about it, but I might also give credit for the second answer.]
In the case of plants, the decisive factor in determining identity is:
- The participation of its parts in the same life.
- The identity of all the particles of matter in the plant.
- The beginning of the plant in time and space.
- The collection of the plant's sensible qualities.
[We discussed this.]
- The 'man' is roughly the animal, and the 'person' is one's self.
- The 'man' is one's self, and the 'person' is the soul or spiritual substance.
- The 'man' is the animal, and the 'person' is the soul or spiritual substance.
- The 'man' is the collection of particles of matter, and the 'person' is one's self.
[We can eliminate the second and third, because Locke denies that the person is the soul or spirit. These are substances, and Locke argues at length that identity of substance is not connected to identity of person. And we can eliminate the last because Locke clearly claims that the man (as with an animal or plant) is not just a collection of particles.]
- Consciousness.
- Participation in the same animal life.
- The mental/spiritual substance, whatever it is, that underlies thought.
- The particles of matter that make up one's brain.
[Consciousness, and in particular consciousness (or memory) of one's past acts.]
- The goodness of God.
- The continuing nature of substance.
- Our ability to discern accurate from inaccurate memories by appeal to their coherence with other memories and perceptions.
- The identity of the 'man' that has the false memories.
[Locke says that it is apparently because of the Goodness of God that we don't find ourselves saddled with false memories.]
- You lost all your memories and gained memories of being Nestor.
- All of the particles of matter that made up Nestor's body were to make up your body.
- You and Nestor had the same soul or spiritual substance.
- Your middle name is really 'Nestor'.
[Since consciousness (including memories) is what makes personal identity, you would be the same person as Nestor if you were conscious of, or remembered, doing everything Nestor did.]
- He appeals to the fact that they used to punish people's bodies (whips, incarceration, etc.) to support his point that personal identity is based on the body.
- He appeals to the fact that we don't punish the sober person for his actions when drunk or mad to support his theory about consciousness being important for personal identity.
- He appeals to the fact that we don't punish plants to support his point that it is the soul or spiritual substance that accounts for personal identity.
- All of the above.
[Three is obviously wrong, because he argues AGAINST the position that a soul or spiritual substance has anything to do with personal identity. And since 3 is out, so is 4. 1 never gets mentioned by Locke. But 2 is his main point is more than one section.]