In this essay I will discuss as well as evaluate the famous and well debated question “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?” This question has been debated as well as analyzed countless times and has been labeled as somewhat of a philosophical puzzle. Still to this day there have been many famous and well known philosophers that have all taken multiple different views and perspectives on this perplexing questions. Two of the more well-known and respected philosophers being John Lock and George Berkeley. It raises many great philosophies and viewpoints some of which I will discuss in this paper. Specifically, I will address how this question is an epistemological problem as well as how John …show more content…
Is it when the sound actually hits the brain and is understood or is it before that when as soon as the sound waves are produced? John Locke sums this up with the belief that sound only exists in the mind. Sound does not exist outside of this realm. Sound is nothing without actually reaching a brain that can comprehend as well as interpret that sound. The object that is making the sound is the primary quality. The variables in this example are the size of the tree, how fast the tree is falling, how much wind is being generated by the falling tree etc. Secondary qualities as explained by John Locke would be examples such as taste, smell and color. These are all qualities that are produced in the mind by external sources in the world. “The primary qualities of an object are properties which the object possesses independent of us — such as occupying space, being either in motion or at rest, having solidity and texture. The secondary qualities are powers in bodies to produce ideas in us like color, taste, smell and so on that are caused by the interaction of our particular perceptual apparatus with the primary qualities of the