Innatism

Question 1

Rationalism

Answer 1

Some of our knowledge that exists in the world we can know without experience

Question 2

Empiricism

Answer 2

We can’t know what exists in the world without observing

Question 3

Innatism

Answer 3

The view that at least some propositional knowledge is already in the mind at birth

Question 4

Plato’s slave boy argument

Answer 4

• Socrates asks the boy questions “if a square with sides of two feet has an area of four square feet what is the area of the square with side of four feet”
• arguably, he’s asking the boy questions to unlock things the boy already knew
• arguing that we have propositional knowledge that we cant have gained from experience, because Meno knew nothing about geometry beforehand

Question 5

Objection to Slave Boy

Answer 5

• weak
• the slave is using reason and logic which is different to knowledge
• he’s learning geometry as Socrates asks him questions
• wasn’t already born with this, just using common sense when looking at geometrical shapes
• LOOKING, learnt it through sense data, Socrates literally drew out the shape for him
• empirical

Question 6

Leibniz’ necessary truths -> FOR INNATISM

Answer 6

• if we have necessary truths it must be a priori
• experience can only tell us what IS happening, cant tell us what HAS TO happen
• w/o NT rationalism = no good
• we do have knowledge of NT -> its impossible for the same thing to be and not to be
• this is a priori knowledge of NT is innate
• argues that we need sense experience, but it isnt sufficient
• if SE isnt sufficient for knowledge of NT then such knowledge must already be in our minds

Question 7

Locke’s ‘what is an idea’

Answer 7

• ‘whatever it is that the mind can be employed about in thinking’ + ‘immediate object of perception, thought or understanding’
• a proposition, a sensation and a concept

Question 8

Locke’s ’what are innate ideas’

Answer 8

“Thoughts printed on to the soul at the point of existence, which it brings into the world with it”

Question 9

Locke’s argument against innate knowledge (premise form)

Answer 9

• if there is IK its universal
• for an idea to be part of the mind, the mind must know or be conscious of it
• therefore, innate knowledge is knowledge of which every human being is conscious
• children and idiots dont know theorems
• therefore they cant be innate
• no claims that are universally accepted
• therefore NO innate knowledge

Question 10

Leibniz’ response to Locke

Answer 10

• Locke actually came before Leibniz
• leibniz claims that after Locke stating many definitions for innate knowledge, he’s missed the right one
• Leibniz objects to Lockes P2 (for an idea to be part of the mind, the mind must know or be conscious of it)
• according to Leibniz innate knowledge exists as ‘a disposition, an aptitude, a preformation’ in the mind towards developing, understanding and knowing certain thoughts

Question 11

‘White is not black’ from Locke - as a response to Leibniz

Answer 11

• Locke accepts that ‘white is not black’ as not being innate
• but namely in the law of logic ‘it is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be’
• we gain concepts of black and white and apply them to this law of logic
• although Locke might object to this example being known before the law of logic
• Leibniz insists that in some cases we unconsciously use our pre-existing knowledge of the general abstract principle

Question 12

Lockes argument against innate concepts

Answer 12

• innate concepts must be universal and we must be conscious of them
• no reason to think new born babies have concepts, God cannot be innate, no such thing

Question 13

Reasons to reject Locke’s innate concepts

Answer 13

• concepts could exist in the mind even if we are not conscious that they are there
• innate concepts cant be gained from experience
• although experience is ‘necessary’ to trigger our development of the concept, it is not sufficient to explain our possession of the concept
• of course babies dont have a concept of God or identity, they havent had the relevant experience required to trigger its development

Question 14

Tabula Rasa

Answer 14

• born as a blank slate
• from empiricism, Locke and Hume
• hume = perceptions are whatever we’re directly aware of
• impressions are live experiences, and ideas are feint copies of impressions
• ideas are less vivid than impressions, copies and more prone to error and confusion
• humes argument is someone who has never had a particular impression is not able to form the corresponding idea

Question 15

Objection to empiricist theory of concepts: the strange case of the missing shade of blue

Answer 15

• present spectrum shade of blues with one missing in the middle, people would be able to form an idea or concept of that shade
• not all simple ideas are copies of impressions
• comes from Humes and dismissed this as being a one-off freak example
• also they’ve experienced blue before, so it cant be innate