John Locke's Intellectual Contribution To Epistemology

Intellectual Contribution to Epistemology John Locke has published various intellectual work that promoted the ideals of philosophy and government. His essays critically analyzed human understanding that has shaped modern day thinking about self-worth and society ideals. Additionally, Locke presented concepts that promoted a democratic style of government in which people are able to oversee each other. Consequently, for a democratic style of government to be successful, Locke emphasized the importance of education in shaping virtuous attitudes towards leadership and governance. From an individual level people are seen as blank slates who are born with good intentions, through early educational interventions people are shaped into virtuous …show more content…
In Book 1, Locke rejects the notion of innate knowledge and coins the term "tabula rassa" or blank slate. In book 2 Locke discusses where knowledge comes from. Locke believes knowledge is ideas, either simple or complex. Complex ideas can be broken down into four basic types: (1) modes, (2) substances, (3) relations, and (4) abstract generals. Complex ideas are created through three methods: combination, comparison, and abstraction. In Book 3 Locke discusses abstract general ideas. General ideas occur through grouping similar ideas and take away the differences. The goal is to generalize and categorize everything. In Book 4: Locke explains the nature of knowledge. For Locke, knowledge is what the mind perceives through the reasoning of ideas. Locke identifies four aspects of reasoning based knowledge: (1) identity and diversity, (2) relation, (3) coexistence, and (4) realization that existence belongs to the ideas themselves. Locke identifies three levels of knowledge: intuition, demonstration, and sensitive knowledge. Through this essay, Locke sets the blueprint and foundation for an empirical method of …show more content…
Locke promoted the concept that moral education is more important than other kinds of traditional reasoning based education. "The goal of education is not to create a scholar, but to create a virtuous man"(Locke, p.345). Essentially, the purpose of education is to address what Locke calls the "Principle of Virtue", namely the ability to subvert one's self to skills involving reasoning through experience-based learning. According to Locke, the goal of education is to create a person who follows reason instead of desire or external motivation. Locke believes that learning should be an enjoyable experience. The only reason that children do not like learning as much as they like toys is that they are forced to learn, and not forced to play. Locke believes that learning can be a form of