Janet Giannini - On Locke
On Locke: I turned to the Taylor chapter on Locke to try to try to distill the readings and to gain more understanding of the point of Locke's theory on disengagement and how the existence of God fits into that theory.
Taylor on Locke`s Punctual Self in: Sources of the Self, Chapter 9 pp 166-1733.
On Locke's theory of disengagement
Taylor writes that Locke's theory of disengagement depends on the power of an individual to "distance oneself from all the particular features, which are objects of potential change." This power resides in consciousness of self, a "self to itself." Thus, "The subject who can take this kind of radical stance of disengagement to himself or herself with a view to remaking, is what I want to call the punctual self" (171).
At the outset, Locke rejects "any view which sees us as naturally tending towards the truth, whether it be of the ancient variety that we are rational beings disposed to recognize the rational order of things, or of the modern variety that we have innate ideas, or an innate tendency to unfold out thought towards the truth" (166).
Taylor writes that what Locke proposes instead is to "demolish and rebuild," to attack the errors "inculcated by custom and ordinary education." This is not a radical departure from Descarte's position. However, "what is radical is the extent of the disengagement he proposes." (166).
Locke's theory is that such radical disengagement from the activities and thought from our unreflecting desires and tastes would allow us to see ourselves as objects of far-reaching reformation. Rational control can extend to the recreation of habits, and hence of ourselves. (171).
The place at which Locke's demolition stops is in the simple ideas, those of "experience, sensation and reflection" as these are not the product of activity all, but are merely passive." (166).
Why disassemble the self?
Locke's purpose in rebuilding the self is to "wrest the control of our thinking and outlook away from passion or custom or authority and assume responsibility for it ourselves.
Locke's theory "generates and also reflects an ideal of independence and self-responsibility, a notion of reason as free from established custom and locally dominant theory" (167).
Taylor notes that both Descartes and Locke call upon us to "think for ourselves." And "knowledge is not genuine until you develop it yourself" (173). This will become a major theme of the Enlightenment.
On God's Existence and the Lockian Person:
Taylor describes Locke as having a hedonist theory: Quoting Locke: "Pleasure and pain and that which causes them, good and evil are the hinges on which our passions turn" 2.20.3. What must happen for a good to motivate us is that it must come to arouse an uneasiness in us. That is, we do good in order to feel good.
John Locke's person is the "moral agent who takes responsibility for his acts in the light of future retribution" (173). Locke is clear that the "rational goals" of self-remaking, "should follow the law laid down by God, which he also calls at times the Natural Law." Further, "this is not only what we ought to do morally, but it is also what conduces to our greatest happiness, as is evident when we think of the "unspeakable" joys and equally terrible pains that God holds out as rewards and punishments." For Locke, it is "the highest moral course just because it is that laid down by a lawgiver who can attach pains to his commands" (171-173).