Key Arguments

• Knowledge requires perceiving agreement or disagreement via intuition, reason, or sensation.
• Intuitive knowledge cannot compare all ideas directly because we cannot always examine their relations by immediate juxtaposition.
• Demonstrative (rational) knowledge falls short because we cannot always find the necessary intervening mediums to connect ideas.
• Sensitive knowledge is the narrowest of all, as it only applies to things currently present to the senses.

Source Quotes

Extent of our knowledge. Knowledge, as has been said, lying in the perception of the agreement or disagreement of any of our ideas, it follows from hence That, It extends no further than we have ideas. First, we can have knowledge no further than we have ideas.

It extends no further than we can perceive their agreement or disagreement. Secondly, That we can have no knowledge further than we can have perception of that agreement or disagreement. Which perception being: I.

Our knowledge, therefore, narrower than our ideas. Sixthly, From all which it is evident, that the extent of our knowledge comes not only short of the reality of things, but even of the extent of our own ideas. Though our knowledge be limited to our ideas, and cannot exceed them either in extent or perfection; and though these be very narrow bounds, in respect of the extent of All-being, and far short of what we may justly imagine to be in some even created understandings, not tied down to the dull and narrow information that is to be received from some few, and not very acute, ways of perception, such as are our senses; yet it would be well with us if our knowledge were but as large as our ideas, and there were not many doubts and inquiries concerning the ideas we have, whereof we are not, nor I believe ever shall be in this world resolved.

Key Concepts

• It extends no further than we have ideas.
• we can have no knowledge further than we can have perception of that agreement or disagreement.
• the extent of our knowledge comes not only short of the reality of things, but even of the extent of our own ideas.

Context

Locke establishes the fundamental boundaries of human knowledge based on his theory of ideas, showing why we cannot know everything we can conceive.