By "tabula rasa," John Locke was referring to his belief that all
ideas come from experience. "There are no innate ideas 'stamped upon
the mind' from birth...." Traditional thinking held that the human
mind had innate ideas that it was born with in order to account for
certain knowledge believed to be universal. His empiricism is what
made him a figure of the Enlightenment and a forerunner of the
scientific process.
Locke viewed government as not being a natural state, but as being
necessitated by the need for enforcement of moral law, with men
delegating their equal rights to punish transgressors to certain
officers comprising a government. This arrangement he called a
"social contract" between the governed and the government, with the
government having limited powers involving reciprocal obligations
conferred by the people, who maintained authority to modify or rescind
them. As a result, the powers of a tyrannical government could be
changed or taken away entirely and replaced with a new government.
This contrasted tremendously with the prevailing doctrine of the
divine and absolute right of kings, whose power was invested by God
and could not be limited or changed by anyone.
"John Locke (1632-1704)" The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://www.iep.utm.edu/l/locke.htm
"John Locke" Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/#3.3
"Our story has its being in the beginning of the Enlightenment, the
Age of Reason, a time of our intellectual awakening. The Enlightenment
began when the Dark Ages ended, a time when the minds of men were
cowed by the great mystery of the universe and their minds, through
ignorance, were ruled by fears. The Enlightenment was a time when man,
stepping out of his shackles, began to use his rational facilities and
pulled himself out of the medieval pits of mysticism and in the
process shoved aside the state and church authorities of the day. It
was a spontaneous and defused movement which fed upon itself and led
to the great scientific discoveries from which we all benefit today.
Beliefs in natural law and universal order sprung up, which not only
promoted scientific findings and advancements of a material nature,
but which also gave a scientific approach to political and social
issues."
"John Locke (1632-1704): The Philosopher of Freedom" Biographies
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Locke.htm
"Empiricism:
§ To an empiricist, all validity in knowledge must be a result of
experience. Locke, Bacon and Hume were empiricists. An empiricist is
one who subscribes to the notion that knowledge comes to us through
experience. There is no such thing as innate ideas; there is no such
thing as moral precepts; we are born with an empty mind, a soft tablet
ready to be writ upon by experimental impressions. Thus, empiricism
opposes the rationalist belief in the existence of innate ideas. A
doctrine basic to the scientific method. Certain philosophers would
call themselves empiricists though claiming that there are certain a
priori truths (e.g., principles of mathematics and logic); but, it is
better thought (see John Stuart Mill ) that even the most sacred "a
priori truths" are generalizations deduced from experience.
An empiricist, incidently, is not to be confused with a skeptic or a cynic."
"Empiricism" A Blupete Essay
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/BluePete/Phil.htm#Empiricism
Sincerely,
Wonko |
