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Essay / John Locke's Theory of Knowledge and Tabula Rasa
Table of ContentsIntroductionHis WorksMajor WorksMost Influential WorksInfluences1. Aristotle2. Thomas Hobbes3. René Descartes4. Sir Isaac NewtonRefutation of Innate IdeasOrigin of KnowledgeSimple IdeasAccording to Locke, simple ideas are of two qualities:Primary qualitiesSecondary qualitiesTertiary qualitiesComplex ideasTypes of modesSimple modesMixed modeTheory of knowledge and Tabula RasaIntroductionJohn Locke was born in Wrington, a village in Somerset, on August 29 in in the year 1632 and died in 1704. He was the son of a country notary and a small landowner. He entered Westminster School and moved to Christ Church, Oxford, as a junior student, in 1652; he participated in the college's tutorials. He was deeply built in the Protestant faith. He was interested in experimental sciences and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1668. Later in 1674, he obtained a bachelor's degree in medicine. His knowledge of Lord Ashley. The Earl of Shaftsbury brought him into membership of his household. He also assisted Shaftesbury in public, commercial and political affairs, and followed him into public service. When Shaftesbury was appointed Lord Chancellor in 1672, Locke became his secretary for benefices, and the following year he was appointed secretary of the Board of Trade. In 1675 his official life ended for the time being. with the fall of its leader. He later spent part of his life writing. He was a British philosopher and physician, an Oxford academic and political theorist of medical research and widely considered one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the father of liberalism and also considered one early British empiricists. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay His Works Much of Locks' work is characterized by a stance, but it is in reality a stance that occurs both at the level of institutions such as government and the church. .Major WorksA Letter Concerning Tolerance (1689)A Second Letter Concerning Tolerance (1690)A Third Letter Concerning Tolerance (1692)Two Treatises on Government (1689)An Essay on Human Understanding (1690)Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)The Reasonableness of Christianity as Presented in Scripture (1695)The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695)Most Influential WorksAn Essay on Human UnderstandingThe Second Treatise on Civil GovernmentA Letter Concerning ToleranceInfluences1. AristotleHe was the first to introduce the concept of Tabula Rasa or Blank Slate which he discussed in his book De Anima, or On the Soul. Locke applied the same concept to his theory of mind in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding using the white phase to illustrate man's state of mind at birth.2. Thomas HobbesIn the book Leviathan, in which government is defined as a social contract established by members of humanity to follow the rules of a central authority that would enable men and women to live and function in society. This theory had a great influence on Locke, who later expounded it in his work Two Treatises on Government.3. René Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, explained the theory that all knowledge must be proven, as illustrated by his famous statement I think therefore I am. Locke developed his ideas in a very different direction from Descartes. He rejects his view on the existence of innate ideas. Locke believed that man is not born with innate ideas but rather develops his ideas throughexperience.4. Sir Isaac NewtonNewton developed the idea that the world is made up of basic particles called corpuscles, held together by the force of gravity. Applying this worldview to human thought, Locke postulated that our knowledge is made up of small ideas linked together to form complete ideas. Refutation of Innate Ideas John Locke admits the presence of natural faculties (intellect and will) but not ideas innate. According to him, the doctrine of innate ideas tends to appeal to authority instead of appealing to reason, so innate ideas are obstacles in the way of free inquiry. He does not accept that knowledge can reside in innate experience or in the form of experience, but that it is from experience that we derive ideas. Ideas are the material from which knowledge is constructed. Ideas can be internal sensations like: pleasure and pain which can help in the perception of external objects and their qualities. They can support memory and can help with incorrect thinking and understanding of language. Origin of knowledge Locke criticizes and rejects the fact that all knowledge is innate. According to him, knowledge arises from experience through sensory experience and ideas arise from experience divided into simple and complex ideas. It qualifies the idea that all our ideas come from feeling or thinking. Simple Ideas The ideas we receive from the senses are simple and mixed. There is a uniform appearance in mine and is not distinguished by two different ideas. According to him, the mind is passive when receiving simple ideas and active when receiving complex ideas. Simple ideas of sensation arise from a single sense while others are the result of several senses. Besides the ideas of sensation and those of reflection, there are those where both sources are used. Locke puts the ideas which are transmitted to the mind by all the channels of sensation and reflection, for example pleasure and pain. According to Locke, simple ideas have two qualities: Primary qualities A primary quality is a power that is inseparable from a body, under any conditions. it can be placed and observed by us. It is a quality such that it is observed to produce in us a simple idea, an idea which not only corresponds to the real quality, but also resembles it. The primary quality is actually present in a party and provides the mind with a resemblance. These qualities are totally inseparable from material bodies. They really belong to objects. The primary qualities do not change. There are six qualities: solidarity, extension, figure, movement, rest and number. They are given through secondary qualities. They go with the substance and are found in each particular thing. Locke calls them original qualities because they produce simple ideas in us. He considered that the primary qualities of a body are those which are inseparable from it. A closely related move is that the primary qualities of a body are its intrinsic properties, which it could possess even in the absence of any other body. Primary qualities are immutable and indiscernible roots on the material object. Lots of quality It is also good for ideas of the human mind that have a direct resemblance to the object from which they are produced. Secondary Qualities Qualities that are not really in the object but have the power to produce ideas in our minds in their primary qualities. Secondary qualities change according to circumstances, but primary qualities do not. Secondary qualities are powers in substance to produce various sensations by theirprimary qualities. They can easily be thought of as a substance, that is, their removal does not affect the existence of the object. These are colors, sounds, tastes, smells, etc. And also, besides sensation, Locke speaks of an additional window through which light enters the empty chamber of the mind. These are ideas for reflection: perception, thought, doubt, belief, reasoning, etc. He says that although reflection is not felt because it has nothing to do with external objects, it can be called internal senses. We may conceive that ideas of secondary qualities are also produced by the operation of particular insensible elements upon our senses. Tertiary qualities Tertiary qualities also carry powers resulting from the composition of its primary qualities. It is best to share qualities when the body has the power to change the texture of another body so that the latter produces a new idea of a secondary quality in the mind of the observer. Ex. The sun has the power to affect wax which takes various forms. Complex Ideas From simple ideas, the mind forms complex ideas through different processes. In complex ideas, simple ideas are composed, compiled and summarized. According to Locke, complex ideas are derived from simple ideas by combination, relation and abstraction. This process takes place through the laws of association. Complex ideas of modes, substances, and relations are the product of the combining and abstracting activity of the mind operating on simple ideas. Fads are considered substance addictions or conditions. So, different distances like: mile, meter, yard, etc. are modifications of simple ideas. Modes such as triangle, gratitude and murder are said not to contain in themselves but are considered substance addictions or affections. Types of Modes Simple Modes Simple modes are different variations or combinations of the same simple idea, without the mixture of any others, in dozen or twenty, which are only the ideas of several distinct units added together. In simple terms, it means different combinations of the same simple ideas without the mixture of any others. Mixed Mode Mixed modes are composed of simple ideas of several kinds, put together to make a complex idea. A mixed mode is not characteristic of real beings having stable experience but scattered, independent ideas brought together. For example, obligation or drunkenness. Substances in which the mind notices that certain simple ideas go coherently together and presuming that they belong to a single thing, gives them a name. Single substance refers to a single mind and collective substances such as; an army or a herd. substance is the idea of subtraction, underlying supports for a number of simple qualities experienced together. It is partially knowable and unknowable. The final type of complex idea is a relationship that consists of the consideration and comparison of one idea with another. In this the mind limits itself to the consideration of one thing but carries every idea beyond itself and observes its conformity with other things. Relations are expressed by relative terms which respond to mutual information. Theory of Knowledge and Tabula Rasa For Locke, all knowledge comes exclusively from experience. He argues that at birth, the mind is a tabula rasa, or blank slate, which humans fill with ideas as they experience the world through the five senses. Locke defines knowledge as the connection and agreement, or disagreement and repugnance, of the idea that humans form. From this definition, it follows that our.