DB 6: What is Sound?

Please read “Problems with Perception” concerning Locke in the Ultimate Questions text first before answering this question. It will also help if you view this week’s slide show once it is posted.

• Question: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise or have a color? Explain your answer.
• Okay, we’ve all heard that one! Let me get more to the point: What part of the world still exists when you close your eyes, ears, etc.? Locke claims that the noise we hear and the colors we see are secondary qualities that do not exist independent of us (for example when we leave a room.) Thus, color, sound, and smell, like pain, are things that do not exist when no one is there to perceive them.
• If you disagree with Locke, how can we show him to be mistaken? (Warning! Don’t dismiss this outright before reading the text!)
• If you agree with Locke, what other part (or parts) of the universe might also depend on us for its existence?
• If you are not sure how to tackle this question or just curious,you might go to the Blind Spot Website: http://www.yorku.ca/eye/blndspo1.htm (Links to an external site.) Were you able to get the spot to “disappear”? Does this example relate to whether a tree makes a noise without someone to hear it?