An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is an essay by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 with the printed title An Essay Concerning H
Title page of the first edition
John Locke
Tabula rasa
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Tabula rasa is the idea of individuals being born empty of any built-in mental content, so that all knowledge comes from later perceptions or sensory experiences. Proponents typically form the extreme
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
…appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. He describes the mind at birth as a blank slate (tabula rasa, although he did not use those actual words) filled later through experience. The essay was one of the principal sources of empiricism in modern…
Roman tabula, or wax tablet, with stylus
Female Figure (Sibyl with Tabula Rasa) by Diego Velázquez, c. 1648