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John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

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John Locke, a famous empiricist, wrote the book: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding in response to Descartes’ Cartesian philosophy where he argues against the concept of innate ideas. Locke believes that at birth the human mind is “tabula rasa” or a blank slate and the only way to acquire knowledge is through experiences involving the senses and body. According to Locke, an idea is only innate if it is universally agreed upon, this includes children and the mentally handicap. Thus, because children and the mentally handicap do not have the mental capacity necessary for innate ideas, Locke concludes that they simply do not exist. Locke presents the notion that knowledge comes either from simple or complex ideas. He goes on to say that simple

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