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MENTAL MODEL · M2679

Molyneux's Problem

Molyneux's Problem
Learn & MetacognitionHigh supportCognitive Science
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-28

CORE DEFINITION

Molyneux's problem is a thought experiment in philosophy concerning immediate recovery from blindness. It was first formulated by William Molyneux, and notably referred to in John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689). The problem can be stated in brief: if a man born blind can feel the differences between shapes such as spheres and cubes, could he, if given the ability to see, distinguish them by sight alone without touching them?

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Molyneux's problem is a thought experiment in philosophy concerning immediate recovery from blindness. It was first formulated by William Molyneux, and notably referred to in John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689).

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Locke raised the question, and Molyneux pursued it in correspondence: after a congenitally blind person gains sight, can they distinguish, purely by vision (without touch), a cube from a sphere that they previously knew only through touch? This tests whether knowledge is transferable between sensory modalities.

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molyneux%27s_problemZH · Explicit
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