John Locke on innate ideas

        In Book 1 of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke first argues that innate ideas and principles – or ideas present upon creation – do not exist. He does so by presenting common arguments that support innate ideas and then presenting his own objections. Locke begins by presenting an argument against the claim that universal truths prove the existence of innate ideas. Locke claims that these ideas are clearly not universal as they are not present in “children [and] idiots”. To substantiate these claims, Locke defends the point that “No proposition can be said to be in the mind, which it never yet knew, which it was never yet conscious of”. Locke argues that if such universal truths as “what is, is” were actually innate, it would be necessary that even children be conscious of them. Instead, however, children evaluate the sentence and are confused by what it means. Locke concludes that the universal truth argument for “innate principles of the mind” does not hold. He then moves to discuss the argument that ideas discovered through reason are innate. Locke objects to this claims on the basis that the “use of reason” is simply deducing truths from facts already known, which could “never be thought innate”. After refuting these two arguments Locke addresses “innate practical principles” which can be equated to an innate moral code. He uses similar methods as above, explaining the origins of various moral attributes. He explains virtue, for example as a trait develop because it was “profitable”. Locke finishes with thoughts on other innate principles, such as God. With the conclusion of Book I, Locke moves to explain his notion of ideas. He starts by classifying the general notion of an idea into two large categories – simple and complex. From this, Locke breaks apart the two groups into smaller subgroups, which will be discussed. Locke categorizes an idea as the “object of thinking”4, and – having debunked innate ideas – argues that they must come from either sensation or reflections on those sensations. Simple ideas are just the collection of these ideas gathered strictly through sensation and reflection. Locke divides simple ideas into four categories: those gathered through just one sense (sight, smell, touch, etc.), those gathered through multiple senses, those gathered through reflection, and those gathered through sensation and reflection both. Locke believes that every simple idea fits into one of these categories, and explains each. The first two – ideas gathered through one sense and multiple senses – are rather concrete. One-sense ideas can include simply seeing a color or hearing a noise. Multiple-sense ideas, Locke claims, are “of space, or extension, figure, rest, and motion” because these are ideas gained by sight and touch. The third category, reflection, is just when the mind looks inward upon the sensations described above. The final – sensation and reflection both– include sensations that carry significant weight once reflected upon. Locke claims some to be:Pleasure, Pain, Power, Existence, and Unity. After categorizing simple ideas, Locke defines and divides complex ideas. Complex ideas are just the combination of simple ideas into a unified group. Locke likens this to “an army”, as you can divide up the army into individual troops, but the group can be referred to as a singular unit, i.e. the army. After defining complex ideas, Locke argues that they can be divided into three groups: modes, substances, and relations.Although there are several faculties of the minds, Locke claims that three show the mind exerting its power over simple ideas the most. These are compounding, discerning, and abstracting. Compounding is directly related to the construction of ideas in the mind. It is how the mind creates complex ideas from simple ideas, by grouping simple ideas into tight unions.The second, discernment, is how the mind creates relations between ideas. The mind places two ideas side by side, but not in union, and evaluates the similarities and differences. The third,abstraction, is the method in which the mind separates an idea from its physical existence. That is, the mind takes something such as a stone, and removes the stone from all existing stones,leaving just an abstract idea of what a stone is. This can be correlated with Plato’s forms, and Locke believes it is a primary faculty of the mind. Locke believe the mind utilizes these methods to construct its own reality. The mind takes in the sensations around it, reflects on some and ignores others, then is able to draw various conclusions. These conclusions include relationships between objects and ideas of abstract concepts beyond its own reality, or so it seems. Locke utilizes this as the basis for his philosophy on ideas and the mind.