John Locke Innate Understanding Analysis

Has one ever wondered how one retain ideas within the mind? The Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke describes his epistemology of the development of mind is by experience and challenges the notion of innate ideas. In this paper, I will strongly argue the importance of the explanation of Locke’s point and the relation the Locke’s wider thesis, and the argument of perfect line or circle. Hence, let me commence the analysis of Locke and his comprehension.

To initiate, Locke’s endeavor was to lay out an ideology that experience leads to the development of innate knowledge. Locke expresses, “if a child were kept in a place where he never saw any other but black and white till...man… no more ideas of scarlet or green… relishes” (78).

This comes to express ideas and principles are not innate, since they cannot find anything universal about them. There are some ideas that everyone shares like the notion of happy and better than sad. Also, “ideas come from sensation or reflection…mind to be, white paper ”(76). At birth the mind is initially blank, meaning there is no experience and the only way to gain ideas is by inscribing experience. Sensation allows for the ability to become familiar with simple ideas, like red and hard. Hence, the more experience one has with those ideas, one begins to form general ideas, like colour and texture. Knowledge come to express the sensation of external infinites, while reflection takes place within the mind (77). One can have sensation of a puppy, with the ability of reflection one can perceive and remember that puppy. So, the vision that came threw the sensory, one may imagine themselves seeing the puppy they remember. However, ideas must come threw sensation for it to exist within the mind. Similarly, we are not born the idea of God, the notion of God acquired by experience. Therefore, the main argument comes to express ideas are not innate and that knowledge is derived from sensation and reflection. For example, I can sense that the weather is cold, but what do I mean by cold. Therefore, sensation is a primary factor, and only one can have a reflection if one

However, our mind can understand what a line or circle is regardless perfection. This is not a problem for Locke’s argument because there are certain things that we can still understand and reason with. For instance, regardless seeing a perfect circle or line, the idea remains present within the mind by experience by remembering when one looks at it. We use our Knowledge to agree or disagree with different notion of ideas. For instance, the line can also be a circle, such that, the line is equal measurement form the middle of the circle all around. Therefore, the circle or the line can achieve the same end, since there are two ideas with the same concept. This is not a problem for Locke because he notifies that, “to inquire into the original, certainty, and extent of human Knowledge” (71). Hence, knowledge becomes perceived with the idea of the circle. One knows what something is with immediate response, such that, triangle is not a circle, even though one has never seen perfect circle. We can use the senses to analyze the externality and the use of reason. The idea or a circle becomes inscribed within us. For example, the senses convert the idea to the mind, getting ideas like red or sour (77). Then, mind brings forth the ability to formulate more general ideas, for example, shapes and colour. In the case of a circle we remember that circle regardless perfection and the