Consciousness in Locke

Shelley Weinberg

The first book of its kind on the subject
Clear and accessible
Will appeal to those interested in early modern history and the history of psychology, as well as to philosophers

Consciousness in Locke

Shelley Weinberg

Description

Shelley Weinberg argues that the idea of consciousness as a form of non-evaluative self-awareness runs through and helps to solve some of the thorniest issues in Locke's philosophy: in his philosophical psychology and in his theories of knowledge, personal identity, and moral agency. Central to her account is that perceptions of ideas are complex mental states wherein consciousness is a constituent. Such an interpretation answers charges of inconsistency in Locke's model of the mind and lends coherence to a puzzling aspect of Locke's theory of knowledge: how we know individual things (particular ideas, ourselves, and external objects) when knowledge is defined as the perception of an agreement, or relation, of ideas. In each case, consciousness helps to forge the relation, resulting in a structurally integrated account of our knowledge of particulars fully consistent with the general definition. This model also explains how we achieve the unity of consciousness with past and future selves necessary for Locke's accounts of moral responsibility and moral motivation. And with help from other of his metaphysical commitments, consciousness so interpreted allows Locke's theory of personal identity to resist well-known accusations of circularity, failure of transitivity, and insufficiency for his theological and moral concerns. Although virtually every Locke scholar writes on at least some of these topics, the model of consciousness set forth here provides for an analysis all of these issues as bound together by a common thread.

Consciousness in Locke

Shelley Weinberg

Consciousness in Locke

Shelley Weinberg

Author Information

Shelley Weinberg, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Shelley Weinberg's research interests are in the history of early modern philosophy, especially Locke and issues of consciousness and perception. Her previous work in these areas can be found in History of Philosophy Quarterly, Journal of the History of Philosophy, and Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. She received her PhD in philosophy from the University of Toronto in 2008. She is currently an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Consciousness in Locke

Shelley Weinberg

Reviews and Awards

"Weinberg's Consciousness in Locke is an important study of an area of Locke's thought that has been relatively neglected in recent years. She displays an impressive knowledge not only of Locke's texts but also of the secondary literature; her command of the recent literature (some of it as yet unpublished) is particularly impressive. Weinberg also makes some fascinating and illuminating connections between Locke's views on consciousness and the phenomenological theories of Brentano and contemporary work by Uriah Kriegel ... as a sustained attempt to offer a sympathetic overall reading of Locke's theory of consciousness, this book is a valuable contribution to the literature." -- Nicholas Jolley, mind

"this is a rich and stimulating book!...This book is important to Locke scholarship as well as to those who are interested in the history of theories of consciousness...It is a model of good historical scholarship." -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online

"I strongly recommend Weinberg's excellent book. It will certainly be an enormously valuable resource for scholarly work on Locke's philosophical psychology for many years to come." -- Journal of the History of Philosophy