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innate ideas

innate ideas Throughout the passage of time, philosophers have written and discussed many topics in philosophy. Sometimes, these philosophers agree on ideas or sometimes they make their own assumptions. There are two philosophers who had different ideas concerning where innate ideas come from and how we get these types of ideas. Rene Descartes and John Locke were these two philosophers with the opposing argument on innate ideas. The place where Descartes discusses his views were in the Meditations on First Philosophy and Locke’s argument is located in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. By using these sources I will be able to describe the difference between these two arguments on innate ideas. Rene Descartes was a mathematician and an extremely brilliant man. In mediation three, Descartes is trying to establish God. With the establishing of God the discussion on where ideas come from is brought up. Also, in mediation three Descartes gets to the idea of God and where innate ideas come from by negating ideas. Descartes says you should agree with two things. He has a term called ex mihilio, which means something can’t come from nothing. Also he says there must be at least as much reality in the cause as there is in the effect. He realizes that God is a perfect being and to get to the idea of God certain ideas must be looked at. The negating idea is key to his theory. Descartes asks himself where do we get ideas. By using negation he comes to the conclusion that ideas don’t come from the world or the imagination, because the world contains material objects and perfection does not exist. He says God can’t be imagined because you can’t put all the imperfection in the world to make perfection. So Descarte finds that God does exist. Descartes says, “God demonstrates most evidently that God too exists.” Finally, he must know where did this idea of God come from. He specifically says he didn’t draw it from his senses. He didn’t make the idea of God he says the idea was imprinted on him. He makes the conclusion by stating, “Thus the only option remaining is that this idea is innate in me just as the idea of myself is innate in me.” God imprints the innate idea of Him on us at birth and that is why we know of God. An example of this is how a craftsman imprints his signature on his work. Descartes says he gets innate ideas from God because God instills the idea of himself onto us, which is an innate idea. The next argument on innate ideas comes from John Locke. He was a British Empiricist who believed in Imperialism. Imperialism means what is available to the senses. Locke’s ideas come from the furniture of the mind-you don’t come to earth with an idea; you are a blank tablet ready to absorb any idea that comes your way. Locke believes that ideas come from the senses. He states that you will see the world how it is unless something is wrong with your senses. The way you know the world is from your senses. He says in his argument that principles and ideas are not innate. As you live on the earth you get ideas through life experiences. If people believe that innate ideas exist, that must mean that there are innate ideas. Locke says there are two candidates for innate ideas: the law of identity (A=A) and the law of non-contradiction which means a thing is A or it is not A, it cannot be both. He says that all children and idiot’s don’t posses these. People don’t have these ideas at birth because they aren’t innate ideas. The same goes for idiots. This proves that people don’t have innate ideas. He also says that universal consent proves nothing to be innate. His argument says, “argument of universal consent which is made use of to prove innate principles, seems to me a demonstration that there are none: because there are none to which all mankind give an universal assent.” Locke tells us all ideas come from sensation and reflection. You receive sense data then you reflect on it and then you begin to perceive it. Locke says you’re not born with innate ideas but is received through the senses and experience. Locke makes a statement in Book II about experience, which says, “In that all our Knowledge is founded; and from that it ultimately derives itself.” In conclusion, these two philosophers have different ideas on where innate ideas come from. What are we suppose to believe? Descartes theory that innate ideas come from God, and that God instills these ideas on us at birth. Also, do we think that the idea of God is an innate idea? Or do we take Locke’s theory that you aren’t born with the idea it’s received through your senses and experiences? Your mind furnishes these ideas. I would like to think we weren’t all idiots and weren’t a blank tablet, but only time will tell. These two extremely different ideas show that this argument is far from over, and maybe Descartes and Locke now know the truth resting in their graves. Bibliography:

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