Locke 1
What does Locke believe about when ideas exist in the mind?
Which concept does Locke use to argue against universality:?
God
What key idea does Leibniz reject in Locke’s theory?
That ideas must be conscious to exist in the mind.
What does Leibniz say experience does to innate concepts?
It triggers or activates them.
What does Locke argue about newborn babies and their possession of concepts?
Babies do not show evidence of possessing complex concepts.
What evidence does Locke use to argue that the concept of God is not innate?
Some societies are atheist, so the concept is not universal.
What does Leibniz say about unconscious knowledge?
We can know things without being conscious of them.
How does Leibniz respond to Locke’s point about babies lacking concepts?
Babies have the disposition for concepts, but they are not yet developed.
To Locke, what features must innate ideas possess (if they are to be considered inante)?
Universality
Conscious
What kinds of concepts does Locke think babies might have?
Basic experiential ones like warmth or pain.
What is the key principle Leibniz defends as innate?
“It is impossible for the same thing to be and not be.”
How does Leibniz respond to the argument that not all societies have the concept of God?
Lacking the word or full concept does not mean lacking the underlying idea.
Why does Locke think “white is not black” is not innate knowledge?
It is learned from experience, not present at birth. It is also not a conscious piece of knowledge held universally.
Why does Leibniz claim that “It is impossible for the same thing to be and not be' is innate?
We use it constantly without explicitly thinking about it.
What does Leibniz mean by a “disposition” in relation to knowledge?
A natural tendency to develop certain knowledge.
Explain Locke’s argument about memory and why it makes innate concepts impossible.
If a concept is in memory, it must have been previously conscious; if not remembered, it must be new—so innate concepts cannot exist.
How does Locke’s definition of innate concepts lead directly to his rejection of them?
Because he defines innate concepts as universal and consciously known—criteria they clearly fail to meet.
Explain how Leibniz’s concept of “triggering” challenges Locke’s entire framework.
It shows that concepts can exist without being conscious or learned directly from experience, undermining Locke’s assumptions.