End with an application of the blank slate theory to modern life. Briefly restate how it can be reconciled with the counterarguments. Provide a statement summarizing the strength of the argument. Consider his ideas of human nature and contrast them with Locke’s. It was, Locke believed, upbringing and education that stymied development of children's humanity when the older generation, itself enmeshed in prejudice, preferred to maintain the status quo rather than.
Tabula rasa john locke free#
Compare Pinker’s neuroscience and sociological data with data on the impact society and parenting have on development. Locke, John (16321704) English thinker John Locke insisted both that children are potentially free and rational beings, and that the realization of these crucial human qualities tends to be thwarted through imposition of the sort of prejudice that perpetuates oppression and superstition.
Explore the idea that certain rational ideas are the same in every culture.Īddress the idea introduced by Steven Pinker at Harvard that the concept of a blank slate denies human nature. Look for research in other fields that supports his idea that rational ideas exist at birth for experience to act on. Question those ideas in terms of current child development research.Įxamine Leibniz’s attempt to reconcile the opposing viewpoints. By ‘idea’, Locke means whatsoever is the Object of the Understanding, when a person thinks. Include Descartes’ ideas about the understanding of simple concepts at birth. In his brilliant 1689 work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke argues that, at birth, the mind is a tabula rasa (a blank slate) that we fill with ‘ideas’ as we experience the world through the five senses. Consider the types of information that might be pre-existing at birth. Provide examples from other cultures to support innate human flexibility.Ĭontrast the blank slate theory with the opposing Platonic concept of a divinely inspired mind. Consider the impact society has on both cognitive and social development.
Support Locke’s observations with research from child development studies or psychology.
Elaborate on the idea that experience is central to brain development.
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