Tabula rasa, the blank slate, is John Locke's empiricist claim that the mind at birth holds no innate ideas: all knowledge is built from sensory experience and reflection upon it. Locke's own image in the 1689 Essay Concerning Human Understanding is white paper, void of all characters; he drew the educational consequence in Some Thoughts Concerning Education in 1693, opening with the claim that nine parts in ten of what people are, they are through education. The strict blank-slate model is rejected by modern cognitive science and behavioral genetics, from Chomsky's innate language faculty to evidence of innate social capacities, but the position remains foundational to educational philosophy and to empiricism itself.
Facts
Partially Debunked
Core ClaimThe human mind begins as a blank slate with no innate ideas, so all knowledge and character are formed entirely through sensory experience, and therefore through education and upbringing. 1 The strong form, no innate cognitive structure at all, is rejected by modern cognitive science and behavioral genetics: Chomsky's and Pinker's arguments for innate language structure and evidence of innate social capacities in newborns test directly against it. The weaker claim, that experience and education matter enormously in forming the person, is uncontroversial, and the concept remains historically foundational. Origin YearThe Essay appeared in 1689; the educational application, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, in 1693. Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke, 1689Book II, Chapter I, section 2Quote, Book II, Chapter I, section 2
Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas: how comes it to be furnished?
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke, 1689Book II, Chapter I, against innate ideasQuote, Book II, Chapter I, against innate ideas
Let us then suppose the Mind to be, as we say, white Paper, void of all Characters, without any Ideas; How comes it to be furnished?
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke, 1689First edition imprintQuote, First edition imprint
An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, In Four Books, By John Locke.
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke, 1689Standard English rendering of the Latin termQuote, Standard English rendering of the Latin term
white Paper, void of all Characters, without any Ideas
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke, 1689Latin term
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke, 1689Developed By: John Locke, Title page authorshipQuote, Developed By: John Locke, Title page authorship
An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, In Four Books, By John Locke.
1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke, 1689In Category: Learning Theory and Concepts, Work's standing in educational philosophyQuote, In Category: Learning Theory and Concepts, Work's standing in educational philosophy
Let us then suppose the Mind to be, as we say, white Paper, void of all Characters, without any Ideas; How comes it to be furnished?
Wikipedia: Tabula rasa
Wikimedia FoundationEtymologyQuote, Etymology
Tabula rasa is a Latin phrase often translated as clean slate in English and originates from the Roman tabula, a wax-covered tablet used for notes, which was blanked (rasa) by heating the wax and then smoothing it.
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