Locke’s Concepts of Knowledge and Personal Identity

John Locke, in his book titled Essay Concerning Human Understanding, argues that knowledge requires one to know that he or she has knowledge of something. Locke also argues that one must perceive that he or she perceives in order for a personal identity to occur. This essay will show that both concepts are related in that they require reflective consciousness.
As mentioned before, Locke’s concept of knowledge is based on the theory that one must know he or she knows in order for knowledge to exist, but a further explanation of this concept should be exposed before one can understand it fully. To begin, Locke presents the concept of simple ideas. Simple ideas are the descriptive parts of an object, i.e., color, shape, size, temperature etc., which can be thought of separately from the whole (Locke 281). Simple ideas can also come about by reflection, or turning in on one’s internal functions, i.e., thinking, knowing, believing, etc. (Locke 276). These simple ideas are the basis of all knowledge (Locke 285), and create a person’s perception of the world (Locke 291). Locke says, “Perception is only when the mind receives the impression [of simple ideas]” (Locke 290). In other words, the mind perceives when a sensation has been sensed. Complex ideas are a bunch of simple ideas grouped together to create a larger idea, i.e., three lines of equal length joined together at each end creates a triangle (Locke 293). Humans take perception one step further by reflecting on the ideas perceived, or by realizing that they know, or perceive something (Locke 290). Knowledge requires perception; or, more precisely, the ability to discern, compare, compound, name, and abstract are the abilities necessary for knowledge (Locke 292-93). Locke emphasizes the ability to discern, “It is not enough to have a confused perception of something in general. Unless the mind had a distinct perception of different objects and their qualities, it would be capable of very little knowledge . . .” (Locke 292). So, one must realize that he or she is perceiving, or have the ability to reflect on something in order for that person to have knowledge of something.
Locke explains personal identity as the ability to perceive that one perceives, which is coherent to the logical structure of Locke’s explanation of knowledge. Locke says, “ This being premised, to find in what personal identity consists, we must consider what person stands for; this, I think, is a thinking intelligent being that has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself . . .” (Locke 322). I believe what Locke is trying to say is that personal identity requires knowledge of the self, and in order to obtain knowledge of the self, one must be aware that he or she has knowledge of the self. A pig could not have personal identity because it does not appear to acknowledge that it exists. The pig may realize it has a physical body, but it does not reflect upon its body. It only reacts to its body. Reflection is needed in order for one to have a personal identity, just as knowing that one knows is needed for one to have knowledge of something. Reflection upon the self can also be called self-consciousness, as one’s conscious is focused on the self.
Both Locke’s concept of knowledge and his concept of personal identity require consciousness. Locke says, “ . . . consciousness always accompanies thinking, and it is that which makes everyone to be what he calls self, and thereby distinguishes himself from all other thinking things . . .” (Locke 323). In other words, consciousness is required to reflect upon, or think about, an idea of the self, and thereby constitutes personal identity. This type of consciousness, as I’ve mentioned before, can be called self-conscious. Consciousness is also required for knowledge. I mentioned before that one must have the ability to reflect, or think about simple ideas before he or she understands that he or she knows something. This act of reflection, or thought, is in essence, consciousness, for “consciousness always accompanies thinking” (Locke 323). In an effort to distinguish this type of consciousness from self-consciousness, it could be called general consciousness. So, Locke’s concept of knowledge and his concept of personal identity relate in that they both require consciousness.
So, according to Locke, all knowledge is based upon the ability to reflect, or maintain a certain consciousness of simple and complex ideas; therefore, personal identity is based upon the ability to acknowledge and reflect upon the idea of personal identity. Thus, for Locke, the relation between knowledge and personal identity is consciousness.