Close Reading Locke: In his introduction to An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke highlights his beliefs about how we come to knowledge. Select three of his reasons for believing that ideas are not innate and discuss how this concept of knowledge applies to the individual’s approach to learning. Use textual evidence (quotes) to discuss and write an original, concise thesis statement to support your position to examine the ideas in a paragraph. 150-200 words.
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Vlad K
12/7/2014 08:14:47 pm
In Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he uses methods such as design, method, and our capacity suited to our state and concerns. For design, he states "To inquire into the original, certainty, and extent of human knowledge, together with the grounds and degrees of belief, opinion, and assent." It says that you need to be original with your ideas by using your imagination and understanding of what you know to create something original.
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Jesse T
12/8/2014 03:42:42 am
John Locke believes that ideas are innate for many reasons such as knowledge is built up from ideas and we aren't born with ideas but ideas come from things that we have previously expierienced in life. Locke states: "I shall inquire into the original of those ideas,notions, or whatever else you please to call them, which a man observes, and is concious to himself he has in his mind; and the ways whereby the understanding comes to be funished with them (Pg.1). Locke believes that we aren't born with a certain set of beliefs but our beliefs grow from the people we surround ourselves with and things we expierience. We can also get our ideas through sensation. We can get ideas from sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.
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Brandon F
12/9/2014 12:47:02 am
In “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” John Locke talks about how he believes ideas are made and how they come about. Also talks about how ideas could also come about by experiences from things that happened in life. Something similar to this is when what is said is, “Let us suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters.” What is said here is when your brain starts you don’t really think of ideas because you haven’t gone through anything that could give you said ideas. Another thing he says is “Thus we may conceive how words, which were by nature so well adapted to that purpose, came to be made use of by men, as the signs of their ideas.” When he says this he is talking about how when we see things we are not actually talking about that exact thing but the idea of what we are thinking about for that specific thing.
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#FearTheBeard
12/10/2014 06:05:43 am
Innate ideas supposedly are forms of knowledge present in human beings since before one is born at birth. By tentative overlooked rules, John Locke is disturbed with basic, commonsense truths that are straightforward and obvious to one. Locke is making contact with this issue of innate ideas from an observer’s point of view. John Locke suggests big, diverse thoughts and arguments against universal acceptance and one-sided situations as proof for innate ideas. (Quote 1) “Pound an almond and the clear white color will be altered to a dirty one and the sweet taste into an oily one. What real alteration can the beating of a pestle make in any body, but an alteration of the texture of it?” It is designated to demonstrate that secondary qualities, as we interpret them, are not genuinely in objects themselves. Really, all that is in objects is primary qualities, such as size, shape, and motion. The other qualities that we experience are simply caused by sundry arrangements of first hand qualities. Basically what he is saying, is, even though an almond tastes sweet to us and looks white to us, there is no taste or color in the almond. His proof to that is when we are deciding this we are really just getting rid of the idea into smaller parts. We are changing back and forth the primary qualities of the almond, and onto the change of the secondary qualities. He uses two examples of offers to which it may be argued that universal approval may apply: “What is, is” and “it is impossible for the same thing to be and not be”. (Quote 2) “Thus we may conceive how words, which were by nature so well adapted to that purpose, came to be made use of by men, as the signs of their ideas.” This is a brief statement of Locke's theory of meaning. Words, in his eyes, do not refer to things in the external world, but what we picture in our heads. When you say refer to something we think of a description of it, not just the word. However, John Locke argues that such ideas are not the topics of universal authorization since “it is evident, that all children have not the least apprehension or thought of them.” (Quote 3) “Our knowledge in all these enquiries reaches very little farther than our experience.” This quotation looks and overthinks at Locke's amount of ability for human knowledge. Locke's definition of knowledge is extremely strict; he believes one can only be verbally to know when one notices an obligatory connection. Locke refuses the thought of possible ideas may be still engraved and marked in a children’s mind, but is not known to them. I think the ability of power in John Locke’s argument is his discussion of the fact that innate ideas simply do not provide us with any greater explanatory than if we think we know everything about human beings. We dwell as a final touch of the world we look at from our own perspective.
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Maurie
12/14/2014 06:10:44 am
I agree with John Locke on his method of finding understanding in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding." He starts the essay explaining that "the understanding, like the eye, whilst it makes us see and perceive all other things" (paragraph 1). He uses this metaphor of the eye to explain perception and how all people have different perceptions of understanding; it's crucial to know first how you understanding, in order to learn more. He goes on to tell an important way to base your level of understanding is off of opinions and facts, and most importantly, knowing the difference between them. Locke presents a three part method in order to tell this difference. When finding the ideas, "first I shall inquire into the original of those ideas" (paragraph 4). After you have established the known source of this idea, find the evidence; "secondly, I shall endeavour to show what knowledge the understanding hath by those ideas" (paragraph 5). The last part of Locke's three part method is to decifer whether this idea is fact or opinion, and the easiest way is to tell whether this idea is certainly "the truth" and sometimes you have to go looking for "the truth."
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Tatiana
12/15/2014 06:48:45 pm
"Of Innate Notions” is the theory that human beings are born knowing naturally certain things.The theory is that it can either be about principles or be about the certain ideas we have already and the ideas we think by our own. Locke often times criticizes the possibility of innate theoretical principles. He thinks that not everyone follows by the same principles and abides by them the same as each other.Which is true because we are all different and each of us have our own principles and our own values. Not one person lives their life just the same as another one person does.Locke also believes that philosophers have ideas over certain things but he believes that we should find out and figure it out through our own ideas as well as just what they think. He believes that we have our own set of beliefs but as we age and meet other people around us sometimes our thoughts are changed by those around us and our feelings as well as our morals and strong feelings toward something or a certain idea can sometimes shift by the people we surround ourselves with because they do not always think the same as we do and sometimes when they tell us about their beliefs we get influenced by other peoples ways of thinking and we start thinking maybe how they think is a good idea and a good way of thinking so we start to like an accept their ideas and like them more than our own so we start thinking in different ways or changing our beliefs by those around us and the way we feel and think because of the influence of others. He says “Thus we may conceive how words, which were by nature so well adapted to that purpose, came to be made use of by men, as the signs of their ideas.” We start to adapt to the thoughts of those around us and accepting of others ideas and beliefs. He also says “For I imagine anyone would easily grant, that it would be impertinent to suppose, the ideas of colors innate in a creature, to whom God had given sight, and a power to receive them by the eyes from external objects: and no less unreasonable would it be to attribute several truths, to the impressions of nature, and innate characters, when we may observe in ourselves faculties, fit to attain as easy and certain knowledge of them, as if they were originally imprinted on the mind.” God has given us a way that we can fill our head with whatever ideas we want to. We can put anything in our head and make our self believe whatever things we want to whether it is good or it is bad. We are in control of our thoughts, beliefs, values, and morals. “Our knowledge in all these inquiries reaches very little farther than our experience.” We have so much knowledge but we just have not gotten to the point where we can fully realize it yet. Each day we are learning more and more new things even if we do not feel that we are. We are, each day we learn many new things more than we can even fathom yet. Life is all about learning and growing each day.
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