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Locke held that people reason using ideas acquired through experience.

The Claim

John Locke believed that human beings are capable of reason and can learn from experience.

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The Short Version

Locke regarded human beings as capable of reasoning and held that knowledge develops from experience. His empiricism teaches that ideas arise through sensation and reflection, providing the materials on which reason operates. Rejecting innate ideas therefore does not imply rejecting reason itself.

Caveats

  • “Learn from experience” is a broad modern paraphrase of Locke’s account of sensation and reflection.
  • Locke denied innate ideas, not the human capacity to reason.
  • Several cited texts are reproductions of the same primary work rather than independent evidence.

The Receipts

  1. John Locke (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

    plato.stanford.edu

  2. Locke, John | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    iep.utm.edu

  3. Rationalism vs. Empiricism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    plato.stanford.edu

  4. Locke: Epistemology | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    iep.utm.edu

  5. An Essay concerning Human Understanding

    marxists.org

  6. An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume I. | Project Gutenberg

    gutenberg.org

  7. oll.libertyfund.org

    oll.libertyfund.org

  8. Locke

    history.hanover.edu

  9. earlymoderntexts.com

    earlymoderntexts.com

  10. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

    socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca

+ 8 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

John Locke

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