John Locke Research Paper

John Locke, an English Philosopher, was among the most influential philosophers of the 17th century. Often, he is deemed the founder of empiricism due to his powerful and famous work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. The Essay contains four books compiled together in an attempt to determine the limits of human understanding. In the first book he critiques the concept of nativism, which states that some ideas are innate in the mind at birth. In the second book, he describes the mind as a blank slate, tabula rasa, at birth that is built upon from experience within the environment. He also states that there are two types of experience, sensation and reflection, one being caused by external means and the other internal. In the third book

One example of the use of empirical ideas today is the scientific method. The scientific method is an everyday process that proposes that the most efficient way to find the truth is to establish theories, derive a hypothesis, gather evidence to test the hypothesis, and if necessary, modify the theories to fit the evidence. For example, one could be combining chemicals in a lab to create a chemical reaction or even simply cooking dinner for the family. Both hypothetical situations require the use of the scientific method and without the development of empiricism, that procedure for acquiring information may not be known today. Another example that supports the theory of empiricism is simple. Imagine a child walking up while their mother is cooking, touching a hot stove and burning himself. Before touching the stove he did not know that it was going to hurt him but after experiencing it, he has learned that it will hurt him and most likely will not repeat the mistake. Experiences like this, happen daily and continue to prove Locke’s theories. Though there are many examples to support his claims, there are still some people who believe Locke’s opinions disregard several aspects of human knowledge. In an article written by a professor named Jacques Maritain at the University of Notre Dame titled, The Cultural Impact of Empiricism, he states that empiricism defines human knowledge as simply sense-knowledge or in other words, animal knowledge. The author criticizes Locke’s theories by pointing out its flaws and inconsistencies. The article states that there is a confusion between what an empiricist does and what an empiricist says. By this the author means, the supporters of this theory are humans that are capable of reason and far superior in intellect than to animals and yet they deny this sense of reason by placing human intellect on the same level