Law & Philosophy: John Locke and Human Understanding


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John Locke’s essay and theory on Concerning Human Understanding challenged the old way of learning by means of the Scholastic Model and instead proposed that all humanity is born with a blank slate and therefore hold no preconceptions of ideas or possess any preexisting knowledge at birth. Locke recalls a gathering with some of his friends discussing a matter without coming to any resolution on the matter that troubled them so. The unresolved issue is a direct inconsistency with the Scholastic model which implies that reasoning with the exchange of argument and counter argument along with the pursuit of a conclusion should be directed towards all questions or contradictions.  However, these men, who I can reasonably assume are intellects or scholars, could not come up with such resolution to their private matter.

Locke’s theory submits that to understand you must understand understanding itself regarding its capacity and limitations. Furthermore, where should the quest for knowledge begin and where should it cease. Locke initially insist that the belief that we are born with innate ideas should be abandoned. He proposes an empirical approach that knowledge only comes from sensory experiences, meaning all information are received by the senses; more specifically how we observe and document behavior according to knowledge which is based off of shared experiences. Locke’s theory indicates that people actually suffer in their pursuit of truth because they fail to determine the parameters of their understanding, hence the reason to why he and his fellow counterparts were unable to find resolve during their discussion. This new approach to the way thought is composed and utilized serves as a blueprint to the enlightenment period on how new ideas challenge the nature of reality and offer an alternative view of the world than what was established. Locke’s influence to consistently pursue the connection between words and ideas in order to gain knowledge and find truth served as a basis for the Enlightenment period.

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