John Locke: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Locke discards the suggestion of innate ideas. Locke believes that if we always had innate ideas, it would be impossible for us not to perceive or be aware of them. He believes that if there were innate ideas then they would be universal ideas present

Good night ladies and gentleman, I’ve been given the honor to present the Enlightenment Award to a man well known by his valuable contributions: John Locke. As all of you know he cannot be present today but I’m sure he would be proud to see how we have kept his ideologies alive, how his political philosophies influenced the 18th century society and how his ideas affect the modern American Culture. I’m incredibly thankful because I get to talk about this man and his accomplishments like his most noted works “Two Treatises of Government”, “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”, and “A Letter Concerning Toleration”. Locke founded the empiricist theory of knowledge, inspired other philosophers and laid the groundwork for the American and French Revolution.

Locke feels that we do not have any innate ideas.  Then the question arises of

The Enlightenment Era was an era of brilliance skepticism and innovation for the world we humans live on. Ranging from Thomas Hobbes to Rousseau, the Enlightenment Era has revealed many brilliant minds, including the best philosopher of the said time, John Locke. A philosopher and a physician, John Locke was introducing ideas that to others, seemed ridiculous; however, these ideas and beliefs are the ideas that have led our society to the current state we live in. The influence and principles of John Locke had maintained a solid foundation throughout his years he was present and after his death. Which is why, many scholars of the past and present have crowned John Locke to be “The most influential philosopher” of the Enlightenment period, and why many have also crowned him as the father of liberalism. In brief, John Locke and his ethics had proven to stay solid, influencing future minds within the fields of philosophy and political theory.

In Book I of, "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," John Locke presents his argument against innate ideas. Innate ideas are ideas that the human mind has had since birth. Philosophers like Descartes are well-known for their defense of innate ideas. For example, Descartes argues that the idea of God is an innate one and that all humans are born with the idea of god inside of themselves and they recognize this innate idea when they compare themselves to God and see what it is they lack (humans are finite, while God is infinite). Locke, on the other hand, is of the belief that ideas are not innate but rather are gained through experience.

The Enlightenment theory philosophies of John Locke offered a future that could drastically change government, economic and social ideals. Thomas Jefferson borrowed liberally from the enlightenment theory from John Locke, specifically focusing on Locks theories of the equality of men, natural rights, and that people should have a say on how the government treated people. Jefferson created a draft document created a bold experiment, America. The enlightenment philosophy of John Locke theorized that that men were inherently equal, and Jefferson sought to prove this point. In the seventeenth century, Locke proposed a number of theories that would prove a force for change in how government treats their citizens. Locke’s theories of equality and natural rights of men propelled, enlightenment century revolutionaries to propose putting Locke’s enlightenment theories into practice. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Draft of the Declaration of Independence provided an active application of enlightenment theory. The Grand Experiment was about to begin.

agree with me on this. He would expect the Mayor to be fair, and honest to his city. His concept of a State of Nature was that "of perfect freedom in which people naturally cooperated for the common good", not for personal benefit in this case with the Mayor (Lesson Week 3). Locke believes that people are “equal and independent”, that they just want to be governed and protected, “what they yield to their governor in exchange for the ability to go about their lives and businesses” (Week 3 Lesson). The Mayor didn’t apply Social Contract into his action, he didn’t think about the safety and benefit of his city.

Locke also believes that people have innate ideas through experiences. He has three explanations for this idea. Firstly, if we had innate ideas, we would know that we have them, which means that if you have ideas they are conscience and everything you think, you think you think. Secondly, if there were innate truths of reason we would all agree on them. Lastly, our memory cannot recall these innate ideas.

" In this quote he is saying that everyone has an understanding that when someone is born they are born knowing the same things and have the same beliefs. When John Locke's said, "Its printed on the mind of man, so to speak- which the soul receives when it first comes into existence, and that brings into the world with it. "(Locke 24) He's telling the readers how people justify saying we have innate ideas and beliefs, when he clearly does not believe we

John Locke was perhaps one of the most influential political philosophers of the modern period. In the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke discusses the move from a state of nature and perfect freedom to a then governed society in which authority is given to a legislative and executive power. His major ideas included liberalism and capitalism, state of nature, state of war and the desire to protect one’s property.

12). I agree with the author. Although we have natural motor abilities we don’t learn without first being showed or taught what to do. For instance, as children we don 't know how to read when we are born, we are taught how to. Locke expands his thought when he says "For if the ideas are not innate, then there was a time when the mind didn’t contain those principles; in which case, the principles are not innate but have some other source.... " (Locke, Pg.13). To get a thought or learn something for the first time something needs to provoke the idea within us.

According to Locke, ideas are derive from experience. His main argument in this Book is to argue against the idea that there is some knowledge that arises prior to experience, that is, the idea that some of our ideas or knowledge is in born or natural. While his attack on the theory that human beings are born knowing certain things, Locke explains this could be in two forms. These forms are theory about principle or about ideas. Book 1 first three chapters are about Locke focusing on principles. Three of his goals are in Book I. They are: to discover where our ideas come from, to ascertain what it means to have these ideas and what an idea essentially is, and to examine issues of faith and opinion to determine how we should proceed logically when our knowledge

John Locke makes a convincing statement of how knowledge is not innate, but is progressively obtained through experiences. His argument is still reasonable till this day because of the trial-and-error method. Entrepreneurs for example are not born knowing what exactly they are going to build or invent. They usually go through a series of trial and error to make the best possible gadget. Thomas Edison states, ““I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” (Furr, 2011) Thomas Edison admits that he had to try several times to be success, a process of trial and error.

James Madison and John Locke each created similar but somewhat different ideas about human nature. Whereas John Locke put more hope in human nature, Madison looked down on it with more critical analysis. Locke’s argument may provide few important points in general, but it is Madison who ultimately explained why people work in the specific way we see today and produce the government we enjoy. In fact, some of Locke’s arguments can be tied to Madison’s philosophy and be seen as useful explanations for Madison’s viewpoint toward self-centered human nature.

It was the Founding Fathers’ view of power that led them to declare their independence from Britain. When the French and Indian War ended, Britain gained a large amount of territory which costed a large sum of money to defend from trespassers. Consequently, Parliament started to tax the colonists without their consent. This unbalance of power caused tensions between Britain and the original 13 colonies. Therefore, the Founding Fathers decided that power should be distributed equally amongst the people and that government should be limited. These views were only strengthened when John Locke wrote “The Second Treatise of Civil Government”, which discussed natural rights, consent of the governed, and limited government. Many of the ideas of John Locke were widely accepted and used by the Founding Fathers, specifically Thomas Jefferson. In the Declaration of independence, Jefferson altered Locke’s phrase “life, liberty, and property” into “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. These three ideas of Locke exist to this day in American political culture. Liberty is at the core of American values, some individuals quote Patrick Henry who said, “Give me liberty, or give me death” in the Revolutionary War. This famous statement of the Revolutionary War reflects that if there is no freedom (liberty) to choose or express oneself, then there is no purpose to living a life where one is not in control of their destiny. The second ideal, consent of the governed, describes how