Philosophy: Do We Have Innate Ideas?

Do we have innate ideas? Offer your view with reference to the work of Descartes and Locke

I understand the concept of innate ideas alone means ideas that presents our mind at birth. Descartes and Locke both have their own views about innate ideas and their arguments are completely different to each other and the question remain to the human knowledge. Do innate ideas really exist?

Descartes does not put experiences to his philosophy like the other philosophers, Bacon and Hobbes. He believes that we have some innate ideas that self, identity, substance and God are in us as we are born “most part on the truths contained in the mind”. He proposed an observations from the wax. Whatever he heats or cools the wax, it would still remain the same substance. He concludes that the mind is capable of performing “acts of intellection” in order to know what kind of substance. Therefore “the acts of intellection” here represents those innate ideas and Descartes describes them as the existence of God has given us the ability to intellect

Locke’s Theory of knowledge against Descartes which he believes there are no such innate ideas. He explains that if the idea is truly in one’s mind then it must be understood and some humans do not understand these ideas. From his evident, the noncontradiction law, “it is impossible for the same thing to be, and not to be”. For example, I work or not work on the philosophy exam but I just can’t do both of them at the same time. He considers the innate ideas are too extreme for humans being to understand and therefore we should reject them. Another Locke’s argument is that if innate idea exists, then it must appear to our minds prior before the instruction. When he mentions about the minds of young children whic...

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...erceive in our mind if we don’t have a good experiences. Kant has the same concern with the cosmological proof. He states “whether we can successfully bridge the gap between our idea of a perfect being and demonstrative proof of its existence” The teleological proof proves that God is the existence of creator. However he wonders the idea of the first creator would lead back to the flaws of the ontological proof. He uses his concept “Moral Postulates” to demonstrate God. First moral behavior is rational, we have reason to be moral such as we know our duty for school work, job and family. Second, Kant argue that we need immortality in order to make the perfect good. The last postulates said the morally necessary to postulate Gods existence. “Moral Postulates” portray an attempt for Kant to limit the theoretical view of God instead of expand the practical philosophy.