Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Locke and Innate Ideas
Locke took a drastically different approach to the concept of innate ideas compared to his contemporaries. He argued that innate ideas could not exist, no matter how elemtary the idea may be. He said that many people were confusing universal concepts with innate concepts. He argued that, just because a triangle has three sides, doesn't mean that we are born knowing that, or with the ability to distinguish it. This was a very important theory, because it essentially pushed God to the sidelines, and instead thrust man into the role of creator of many ideas which, at the time, were thought to have been implanted in the minds of man prior to birth.
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4 comments:
First off you did a good job summerizing this section of Locke and i agree with locke that we do not have innate ideas and that people do mistake universal concepts like a triangle having three sides as innate ideas.
I know locke does not believe in innate ideas but I would like to know how the idea of God came about. Of course, Descartes says that the idea of God has to be innate otherwise we wouldn't have the notion of a supreme being. So who is right? If locke is right, how does he fit in the concept of God into our lives even though he does not consider it to be an innate idea?
how can a triangle having 3 sides be a universal idea. a triangle is an illusion created by man. a triangle has 3 sides by definition, and cant be innate. this does not disprove innate ideas. what is locke's idea of a universal idea
Is it not possible that specific ideas are not innate but that general ideas are?
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