6025
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At birth the soul is a blank sheet ready to be written on
[Stoic school, by Aetius]
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Full Idea:
When a man is born, the Stoics say, he has the commanding-part of his soul like a sheet of paper reading for writing upon; on this he inscribes each one of his conceptions.
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From:
report of Stoic school (fragments/reports [c.200 BCE]) by Aetius - fragments/reports 4.11
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A reaction:
This appears to be the origin of the concept of the 'tabula rasa', which resurfaces in empirical thought, in Locke and elsewhere. Notice that 'he' inscribes on the paper, rather than raw experience doing the job. The natural light of reason can do it.
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6230
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If the soul were a tabula rasa, with no innate ideas, there could be no moral goodness or justice
[Cudworth]
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Full Idea:
The soul is not a mere rasa tabula, a naked and passive thing, with no innate furniture of its own, nor any thing in it, but what was impressed upon it without; for then there could not possibly be any such thing as moral good and evil, just and unjust.
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From:
Ralph Cudworth (On Eternal and Immutable Morality [1688], Bk IV Ch 6.4)
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A reaction:
He goes on to quote Hobbes saying there is no good in objects themselves. I don't see why we must have an innate moral capacity, provided that we have a capacity to make judgements.
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7507
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The mind is white paper, with no writing, or ideas
[Locke]
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Full Idea:
Let us suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas.
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From:
John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 2.01.02)
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A reaction:
This is normally referred to as Locke's 'tabula rasa' idea, and is his denial of the existence of innate ideas. It is generally thought to be absurd, but note that he only 'supposes' it, presumably as a theoretical strategy, to investigate empiricism.
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12474
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The mind is a blank page, on which only experience can write
[Locke]
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Full Idea:
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.
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From:
John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 2.01.02)
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A reaction:
The simple objection is that minds could make nothing of their experience if they were totally blank. But if we add principles of association, we might still say that there are no actual ideas imprinted in the original mind, only functions or faculties.
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