Discussion on Locke’s Theory of Substance

About Locke in Short

Locke was born in 1632 in England and became one of the most important Philosophers and Physicians. He was a popular political theorist and considered the founder of the British Empiricism. Locke is considered an Idealist and as he was the founder of Empiricism, an Empiricist as well.

Introduction to Substance

In philosophy, many philosophers gave their own opinions and points about substance. Therefore, there are multiple explanations and definitions of it. If I write some definition, it would reflect my philosophical perspectives on substance, which surely I am about to do and I will attach some examples to it so that the reader can understand what substance is referred to.

Definition of Substance

Anything that is a combination of one or more characteristics that is supported by any logic that is either physical, spiritual, mathematical, any other contextual logic, or multiple kinds of logic from these; and that can be used as core blocks of discussions is a substance.

Examples

1. Smartphone. It is a combination of characteristics such as, its geometric dimensions being Physical & Mathematical logic; its colour(s) being Physical Logic and its Operating System being ‘Other Contextual’ logic.
2. Pencil. It is a combination of characteristics such as its geometric features are Physical Logic; its colour(s) is/are Physical Logic and the material used is also Physical Logic.
3. Spaceship. It is a combination of characteristics such as, the material used, geometric features, colour, weight etc. are Physical Logic; the architecture(s) used is/are ‘Other Contextual’ logic and the capabilities are also ‘Other Contextual’ logic.

Empiricism

Empiricism is one of the competing philosophies within Epistemology, along with Rationalism and Skepticism. While a Rational Epistemologist may say that substances are real-world existing things and knowledge of that substance can be acquired through reason only, an Empiricist Epistemologist will say that substances are collections of ideas and knowledge of that substance is acquired through senses.

Locke on Substance

As an Empiricist Epistemologist and Idealist Locke believed that substances are collections and combinations of ideas. However, interestingly, Locke believed in the physical existence of Substance along with God and Spirituality. Ideas as the building blocks of an unknown substance are its characteristics that define that object in common sense. As an example, Locke would describe a car as if it is not a car but a combination of different complex mechanical and electronic systems along with its geometric features, color, sounds, material types, etc. His philosophy says that without these ideas, that substance is not a substance, and without that name or term that thing is still a substance with these ideas. Philosophically these ideas are described as whatever the mind perceives in itself or is the immediate object of sensation, perception, thought, or understanding, is an idea. Locke termed the power to produce any idea in our mind as qualities. As an example, we can think of an Apple, which has some scientific specifications that reflect a certain frequency range of light, which then produces an idea of color in our mind, thus that scientific specification in that apple is called a ‘quality’ in Lockean Philosophy. But Locke didn’t stop there and broke the concept of qualities down into two types, Primary Qualities and Secondary Qualities.

Primary Qualities

Qualities that are physically present in substances are termed Primary Qualities by John Locke. Qualities physically present may count stiffness, shape, materials, or the number of materials, etc.

Secondary Qualities

Locke identified those qualities as Secondary which are logically not present in the substance but due to some quality present in the substance, those qualities appear to be effective by creating some ideas in our mind. An example of this type would be color, which is not present in the substance but due to some qualities of the substance some light gets reflected and an idea of color is made in our mind. So the color as a quality does not exist in that substance, therefore it is a secondary quality, which has appeared in the process.

Now as we have discussed Locke believed that substances are collections of ideas, he also explained that ideas are made in our mind, not in a physical shape, therefore here comes Locke’s idealist theories, which suggest that these substances are perceived through experience of the senses. So basically the things we see around us are simply collections of ideas in our minds. But Locke also believed in the physical existence of substance, and that is his realist side. Now to simplify our understanding, Locke believed in the existence of substances as a realist but he believed that we do not perceive those substances directly rather qualities in those substances create some ideas in our mind intaken through our senses, and the collection of such ideas is perceived as a substance.

Criticism

1. Although Locke conjoined realism and empiricism together and formed a very definitive and advanced philosophy of substance, after so much scientific advancement it seems very blurry to determine which qualities are primary and which are secondary. Though I attached examples of primary qualities as stiffness, shape, etc. but one may argue that shape is also an idea in our minds that in reality does not exist. It is some qualities in the substance that create that idea of a shape. Stiffness as a primary quality can be criticized in the same way. If we go down this rabbit hole, we will find that it is very difficult to understand the difference between primary and secondary qualities and therefore hard to identify as well.
2. Although Locke believed in the existence of substance, his theories do not give solid proof or explanation of it. Therefore it can be said that his belief in the existence of substance was solely for cutting off debates.
3. Ideas of primary qualities resemble things and of secondary qualities do not. But Locke never gave any formula to know whether an idea resembles the thing or not, thus making the border of primary and secondary qualities even blurer.

Conclusion

Keeping my criticism aside I would say that Locke’s theories of substances created a revolution of thought in philosophy and physics, which thereafter made the civilization more advanced. Although there are some vague lines in his philosophy due to a shift of scientific understanding, we still can create a valuable viewpoint of matter, things, spirituality, and the universe by tweaking some concepts to fit with the current generation of understandings. I believe that Locke’s point of view can help modern science in many fields including cosmology, physics & chemistry, life sciences, geology, and even Computer Science & Network Engineering. Thus in conclusion Locke played a significant role in Epistemology, which affected the scientific revolution directly.