When I first thought about what it is for an idea to resemble a thing I thought it was pretty obvious. If one’s thinking in images then well the idea is a picture of the object, it resembles the appearance of the thing. If one’s thinking in language, well then the idea resembles the world in that the language refers to the object. However, we discussed in class how oftentimes our ideas are not in either of these forms. We do not usually think in pictures or in language necessarily. So if our ideas are not pictures or sentences how can they resemble the world?
I guess the first step to figuring this out is to figure out what an idea is. When Descartes discusses ideas he names only particulars. I feel that particulars would be easy enough to talk about. Our ideas of particulars resemble the world in the same way that Florka’s scribbles on the board resembled a cat. I feel that our ideas of particulars resemble the world in that for each individual person his or her idea refers to the given thing. My idea of a cat may be different from someone elses, but they both still resemble the world in that my idea of a cat leads me to be able to think about a cat, talk about a cat, picture a cat, and if I talk to you about a cat, you will know what I am referring to even if your idea of a cat is different. The idea does not resemble the world in the way a photograph does or the way a similar object does, but rather is resembles the world in that for each person the idea refers to the particular and allows one to be able to do different things with the idea.
I get a little iffy when it comes to considering ideas that are not particulars. However, maybe it is not as big if a problem as I may think. Take the generality of the idea of being a cat or the idea of justice. How much can those ideas even resemble the world? Is justice a thing that can be resembled? It can be exemplified, but I do not see how justice can be “resembled”. For something to be resembled is for a thing to be like or similar to it. Perhaps other generalities can resemble justice, like fairness, and maybe our ideas can resemble generalities in a sort of descriptive way. However, I do not see how our ideas can resemble generalities in the same way they resemble particulars.