Two philosophers that have heavily influenced the world of philosophy as we now know it, René Descartes and John Locke, have not always agreed on the same beliefs. In fact, they almost always argued on what each other felt was true except for the unlikely agreement on a few things. This brings me to one particular argument dealing with the issue on innate ideas. Descartes side of the argument believes that we born with ideas (innate ideas) and Locke believes our ideas come from experience and the senses. Ideas have to stem off of something and the only way for us to have that base for an idea is to experience it. That experience determines our idea of that particular thing.
René Descartes was a Rationalist, which is someone who believes in …show more content…
He creates this way of thinking that senses can change over different phases and ideas cannot just disappear from our minds. He is right about the fact of changing the matter of an object and still having that idea of what that particular object was before it was changed is from your mind. He gives valid reasons, however he has many weaknesses to his argument. In the textbook, Classical Philosophical Questions, Descartes says that “…if an idea is “clear” if its content includes the nature and essence of it” (195). However, how would you explain knowing about something before it happens? You need that particular experience as a starting point for your mind to create that idea. Descartes says that changing the state of an object allows the idea originate from birth because where else would that idea come from; however, that process of changing the state of that object was still an experience for that individual allowing them to develop that experience into an …show more content…
It is not just through a sense but through a sense, more than one sense, reflection of our own minds and thoughts and all of the senses and reflections put together to form an idea. I do believe that the ideas that we carry throughout life are caused by the situations we experience in our lives. I feel that through experiencing different things in life give us these ideas to expand and learn from. These experiences give us the tools to learn and create concepts for further ideas. We also have ideas from experience because the senses and experiences that we get the information to form our ideas is influenced by these circumstances. In Classical Philosophical Questions, Locke states that “Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas – how comes it to be furnished?...To this I answer, in one word, from experience” (213). This is a great point because how else would we even have the idea itself if it weren’t from an experience to make us think of
René Descartes was a Rationalist, which is someone who believes in …show more content…
He creates this way of thinking that senses can change over different phases and ideas cannot just disappear from our minds. He is right about the fact of changing the matter of an object and still having that idea of what that particular object was before it was changed is from your mind. He gives valid reasons, however he has many weaknesses to his argument. In the textbook, Classical Philosophical Questions, Descartes says that “…if an idea is “clear” if its content includes the nature and essence of it” (195). However, how would you explain knowing about something before it happens? You need that particular experience as a starting point for your mind to create that idea. Descartes says that changing the state of an object allows the idea originate from birth because where else would that idea come from; however, that process of changing the state of that object was still an experience for that individual allowing them to develop that experience into an …show more content…
It is not just through a sense but through a sense, more than one sense, reflection of our own minds and thoughts and all of the senses and reflections put together to form an idea. I do believe that the ideas that we carry throughout life are caused by the situations we experience in our lives. I feel that through experiencing different things in life give us these ideas to expand and learn from. These experiences give us the tools to learn and create concepts for further ideas. We also have ideas from experience because the senses and experiences that we get the information to form our ideas is influenced by these circumstances. In Classical Philosophical Questions, Locke states that “Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas – how comes it to be furnished?...To this I answer, in one word, from experience” (213). This is a great point because how else would we even have the idea itself if it weren’t from an experience to make us think of