Question

read the following excerpt from john locke’s an essay concerning human understanding and answer the questions.
in time the mind comes to reflect on its own dealing with the ideas acquired from sensation, and thereby stores up a new set of ideas that i call ideas of reflection. . . the first come senses by outward objects, or by its own operations when it reflects on them. this is the first step a man makes towards the discovery of anything, and the basis on which to build and reach as high as heaven itself take off from here. . . .
in the getting of ideas the understanding is merely passive. it has no control over whether it will have these beginnings—these materials, so to speak—of knowledge. for many of the operations of our minds won’t let us be without at least some obscure notions of them. no man can be wholly ignorant of what he does when he thinks. the understanding can no more imprint, or blot them out and make new ones itself, than a mirror can refuse, alter, or obliterate the images or ideas that the objects placed in front of it produce on its surface

1. according to locke, how does the mind receive ideas?

a. through divine inspiration
b. through personal invention
c. from language itself
d. from external sources

Explanation:

To answer this, we analyze the excerpt. Locke says the mind gets ideas from "sensation" (outward objects) and "reflection" on its own operations, but the key is that the understanding is passive, like a mirror receiving images from objects. Option a (divine inspiration) is not supported. Option b (personal invention) is wrong as the mind can't "make new ones itself". Option c (from language) is not mentioned. Option d (external sources) fits because the mind receives ideas from outward objects (external) and reflects on them, with the passive nature implying it takes in from outside.

Answer:

d. From external sources