Descartes And Locke Similarities

As Descartes and Locke worked consistently through out their lives to discover truth, many differences as well as similarities arose between the two. In regards to similarities, Locke considered all qualities of external objects to fall into one of two categories, primary or secondary. As previously mentioned, primary qualities are fixed in the object to make it what it is, and secondary qualities are all in the eye of the beholder. This idea from Locke agrees precisely with the distinctions made by Descartes concerning the qualities of wax. In his second meditation Descartes states, “Let us concentrate, take away everything that does not belong to the wax, and see what is left: merely something extended, flexible, and changeable.” (Descartes
Locke was an empiricist who believed sensory experiences are the ultimate source of all learned concepts and familiarities. As opposed to Descartes, a rationalist and idealist whom believed knowledge is gained in a variety of ways independent of the senses. This idea stemmed off the belief that senses can easily be deceiving and are not trustworthy. According to Descartes, each human being is born with innate understandings that have nothing to do with the senses at all. To prove this he used the sun as an example. Senses display the sun as being a very small and bright circle in the sky, but our innate understanding of the sun gives us the true knowledge that it is actually several times larger than planet earth. This example aided Descartes in establishing that God is indeed real because he is the source of which all innate ideas originate from. In the text Descartes states, “But this would not account for my having the idea of an infinite substance, when I am finite, unless this idea proceeded from some substance that really was infinite.” (Descartes 154) God, being infinite and supremely intelligent, is the only source as to which knowledge of a perfect, infinite God could have originated from because it is impossible for humans, whom are only finite, to create an idea of an infinite
By living in the deep south and being raised by Christian parents, the teachings of our one supreme God have been very prevalent in my life. Most all of the friends I have ever had have all been believers, as most of them experienced similar upbringings. However, occasionally I would meet people who were not familiar with God, one being my own grandfather. He is seventy-nine years old and has very limited knowledge of God. Often times he has shown much curiosity about my family’s faith because it is a very unfamiliar concept to him. This example of my grandfather’s situation clearly displays that knowledge is obtained through personal experiences that take place in one’s life. If knowledge of God or even secular ideas were innate then my grandfather along with all other humans would be knowledgeable of God. It also gives reason for Locke to greatly emphasize the crucial power of custom and how it directly impacts one’s thoughts and actions (Grant 608). Since I have seen this occurrence first hand, it is certain to me that empiricism is correct. This also leads me to believe that materialism is more correct than idealism. Encounters with everyday things are vital in shaping the way people think because it is in the midst of personal experiences and reflections that knowledge is