This question has been regraded.

Locke thought that we can have ideas of things that we have not experienced.

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This question has been regraded.

Locke thought that we can have ideas of things that we have not experienced.

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The statement asks us to evaluate a claim about Locke's view on ideas and experience.
First, consider what John Locke argued: all human ideas originate from experience, either via sensation or reflection on those sensations. He famously rejected the notion of innate ideas, asserting that the mind at birth is a blank slate (tabula rasa) and that complex ideas are built from simple ideas gained through experience.
Next, assess the given claim: ‘Locke thought that we can have ideas of things that we have not experienced.’ According to Locke’s framework, having an idea of something you have not experienced would require either sensation or reflection on sensation about that thing, which would violate his emphasis that ideas are derived from experience. Therefore, the claim contradicts his central thesis about the source of ideas.
Consider potential subtleties: one might wonder about abstract concepts (like mathematical truths) or possibilities; however, Locke would still ground even those in experiential content or in combinations of existing ideas formed by the mind, not in an original, unexperienced idea. So the notion that we can have ideas of something completely unexperienced does not align with his empiricist position.
In contrast, if someone argued that we can form ideas through inference or mental operations without direct sensory input, they would be attributing to Locke a notion closer to rationalism, which he explicitly rejects. This helps distinguish the claim from Locke’s actual stance.
Finally, to determine truth value: the statement asserts a capacity (having ideas of unexperienced things) that Locke denies by rooting all ideas in experience; thus the statement is false within the context of his philosophy. The key misconception would be believing Locke allowed innate or non-experiential ideas, which he denied.
Overall, Locke’s theory of knowledge centers on experiential origin of ideas, making the claim as stated incompatible with his position.

PHL210Y5 Y LEC0101 Quiz #11

This question has been regraded. Locke thought that we can have ideas of things that we have not experienced.

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