The two views with regards to innate knowledge that both John Locke and Plato hold, are quite different. Locke shares the view that there is no such thing as innate knowledge, and that knowledge is obtained through experiences in one's life.

Authors Avatar

Christopher Olsen

PHI 101

July 7, 2003

        The two views with regards to innate knowledge that both John Locke and Plato hold, are quite different.  Locke shares the view that there is no such thing as innate knowledge, and that knowledge is obtained through experiences in one’s life.  Plato holds a completely different viewpoint and feels that knowledge is not something that is learned, but it is recollected.  He feels that the knowledge is inside each human being, and that the individual needs to be pointed in the right direction to perhaps recall that particular knowledge.

Join now!

        John Locke was known as an Empiricist, and that meant he did not believe in innate knowledge.  Locke feels that we are born as a Tabula Rosa or blank state, and that through our experiences do we gain knowledge. Locke felt that knowledge comes from experiences and more specifically, sensation and reflection.  Examples of sensations would basically be the five senses, and reflections would be pure thoughts or feelings.  Furthermore, primary ideas were designated as being physical objects and were designated as bulk, size, motion, figure and number.  Secondary ideas were characterized as being in one’s head and were characterized ...

This is a preview of the whole essay