Even though the listener has never seen a Pegasus, if he has seen a horse, and wings, then he can combine the two in his imagination to form an image of a Pegasus. Locke also gives much attention to general term. If a person were to name every specific thing that he came across, he would have thousands of names just for each tree, and each leaf, and each rock. Locke goes further and describes two kinds of complex ideas, substances and mixed modes. The abstraction is that horse doesn t refer to a particular one found in nature, but to the general idea of a horse.
Mixed modes are also complex ideas, but can t be readily observed by looking at something in nature.
Instead, mixed modes are ideas created entirely by people as an aid in understanding. A classic example is the idea of justice. Locke s theory is a good attempt at an empiricist view of language, because it bases words and language upon observable things and experience. However, there are still some questions remaining. For example, many words Locke doesn t account for, such as to.