2017/08/31 by Walter Ott · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics #Historical Philosophy and Science #History of Science and Medicine
paper · doi:10.1515/agph-2017-0014
crossref issued 2017/08/31 · crossref published 2017/08/31 · crossref published-print 2017/08/31 · openalex publication_date 2017/08/31 · crossref created 2017/09/05 · crossref deposited 2024/06/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Abstract: John Locke’s claims about relations (such as cause and effect) and mixed modes (such as beauty and murder) have been controversial since the publication of the Essay . His earliest critics read him as a thoroughgoing anti-realist who denies that such things exist. More charitable readers have sought to read Locke’s claims away. Against both, I argue that Locke is making ontological claims, but that his views do not have the absurd consequences his defenders fear. By examining Locke’s texts, as well as the intellectual context in which they were written, I show that Locke’s position is at once radical and thoroughly traditional.