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John Locke's Philosophical Controversy

1835 Words8 Pages

Jasmine Benner
PHIL 342
Dr. Susan Mills
December 4, 2015
Innatism That Believes in Instincts Philosophical controversy has surrounded the notion of innate ideas, and the debate surrounding whether or not they really exist. It is no easy feat to prove or disprove the reality of innate knowledge. This idea refers to knowledge in the mind that is accessible from birth, they can be understood immediately and imply a human basis of latent knowledge. John Locke denied innatism using his rationale of empiricism. Ideas that exist separate from experience (lacking prior experience/exposure) are a possibility that can be considered, as well as denied through the inspection of Locke’s literary writings. Locke can be discredited …show more content…

These nativists assume the existence of innate ideas and experience (a combination of both) to contribute to ideas of the mind, whereas empiricists (like Locke) only really set out under the one assumption that experience is present. By virtue of Ockham’s razor, Empiricism would trump in this aspect because it hinders on fewer assumptions—and a simpler argument is more effective than a complex one. But this doesn’t prove or disprove what Locke advocates: tabula rasa. Being the simpler of the two options does not imply …show more content…

Locke does assume the pre-existence of causality (already present in the mind). Although he does acknowledge these “inherent faculties”, causality seems like a more specific and specialized function (not pertaining to a mere “inherent faculty”). But the nativism referenced by this paper’s thesis is in allusion to instincts. According to an earlier excerpt from Hume, he regards “affection, love of virtue, resentment, and all the other passions” (Hume 648) as instinctual capacities. Henceforth, the claim that Locke refutes instincts along with nativism becomes cloudy. If natural faculties are instincts, then Locke agrees with something synonymous with innate ideas. But it’s unclear, and frankly debateable, if the natural faculties contribute to a cumulative argument aimed at discrediting Locke. When we address Hume’s earlier passage, it seems like the most most credible ammunition against Locke. Insofar as Hume claiming that Locke’s ideas (possibly unbeknownst to the philosopher) are reliant on

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However, Locke does make a good point when he says that “ every man in the state of Nature has a power to kill a murderer, both to deter others from doing the like injury (which no reparation can compensate) by the example of the punishment that attends it…” (7) Since everyone in a hypothetical state of nature is equal, everyone would have the same abilities— even if that means the power to kill a murderer. He believes that in a state of nature people would be unlikely to do things like this because they know someone can do the same to them. While it’s a good argument, I think that people are all made differently and

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1. Berkeley aims to overcome the atheism and skepticism in Locke’s philosophy by denying the existence of material substances and by arguing that only mind and ideas exist. 2. Berkeley argues that material substances do not exist, because, first, we perceive no external objects existing independent of mind, but only sensible qualities as ideas in mind; second, we cannot infer the existence of material substances based on our 3. perceptions, from which we discover no necessary connections between objects and our ideas.

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A large share of Locke’s philosophies is established upon

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Empiricism s defined as the view that all knowledge of facts must be derieved from sense experience. The first Bristish Emiricist was John Locke. John Locke’s aim was to undertand our understanding. This included: how it works, what materials it has to work with, and how far it can reach. Locke also says, our idea of the soul should be clear or equal as our idea of material substance.

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Locke’s philosophy can be observed through sections of the United States Declaration of Independence. A logical and scientific approach to socioeconomic, political, and religious matters advocated a profane view of the world producing a common awareness of progress. Individuals can and

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These ideas were expressed in his “Tabula Rasa Theory of Human Behavior”. In his writing, Locke says,”Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas—How comes it to be furnished? Whence comes it by that vast store which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on it with an almost endless variety? Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, from experience.”

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In John Locke’s ‘An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” he explains the limitations associated with human understanding and knowledge. Locke tries to convince the reader that everything is taught and there is no knowledge you are born with or innate knowledge. Others that disagree with Locke may mention god and claim it is god that provides this innate knowledge. This would mean that a newborn child would have a mindset of its own which Locke disproves.

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In contrast, Locke believes, that knowledge can only have a high degree of certainty but cannot be certain. Since he does not focus much on certainty in his works, he believes that perception can play a major part in the process of knowledge. He further reiterates that knowledge is based on observations and senses. According to his him, ideas come from reflection and sensation while knowledge is founded on experience In summary, I have covered the respective positions and views that both Locke and Descartes hold in respect with self-identity and consciousness.

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Innatism refers to a philosophical belief in innate ideas and knowledge which suggests that one is born with certain ideas and knowledge. This contradicts tabula rasa, an epistemological argument that the mind is a blank state at birth. In the history of philosophy, innatism has been widely discussed between rationalists and empiricist. While rationalists assert that certain ideas and knowledge pre-exist in the mind independently of experience, empiricists claim that all knowledge is gained through one’s experience. However, Plato’s story of a slave boy in Metaphysics and Epistemology, the study of neuron system, and research of infants’ representations of events support the argument of rationalists with convincing evidences; therefore, I agree

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First of all, their conceptions of natural inclinations are different. Locke disagreed on the use of naturalism, while Rousseau disagreed on the use of habits and social conventions for the education of the children. John Locke believed every human born without innate ideas. He believes that children have “tabula rasa” they are lives with their blanks minds.

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