CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Sheing Temoche, Mario Sergio |
|---|---|
| Title | Uniformity and Aristotelianism in Locke's Philosophy of Body |
| Summary | In this thesis, I argue that the corpuscularian doctrine of the uniformity of matter, together with certain aspects of scholastic philosophy, shaped Locke’s notion of qualities as powers, his conception of primary qualities and his thought about solidity, atomism and cohesion. In particular, I argue that the doctrine of the uniformity of matter, which entails that, with respect to bodies, differences in size never amount to differences in nature, plays a pivotal role in Locke’s ascription of solidity and primary qualities in general to unobservable bodies (something often thought in conflict with his empiricism). Moreover, I argue that this doctrine is in conflict with understanding Locke’s atoms as simple or partless bodies. We should, therefore, think of Lockean atoms as clusters of material parts naturally inseparable, which gives rise to the problem of cohesion or the problem of explaining the natural unity of such bodies. With respect to the Aristotelian aspects of Locke’s philosophy of body, I argue that Locke’s list of primary qualities provides only a nominal definition of body, that the way scholastics thought about division plays an important role in the specification of the list of such qualities, and that the correct understanding of solidity and the problem of cohesion depends on the scholastic distinction between quantitative parts and qualitative pars, as well as on the Aristotelian notion of quantity. |
| Supervisor | Michael Griffin |
| Department | Philosophy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/sheing-temoche_mario.pdf |
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