The base of the self

MonfortS26 November 02, 2016 at 08:05 2200 views 3 comments

John Locke believed that we are all born as a blank slate, known as the tabula rasa. This is the base of who we all are as people, Nothing. Not in the sense that we don't exist, but in the sense that at our very core we are empty. We come up with ways of distracting ourselves from the emptiness and to fill the time we are alive, but when it comes back to it we are nothing more than the sum of our experiences and our natural instincts. Our bodies play a role in the way the world treats us but that is the extent of nature in the development of the self. I argue that personality is entirely built out of societal influence.

Comments (3)

wuliheron November 02, 2016 at 15:51 #29924 0 likes

The idea that something can come from nothing is a paradox as is claiming that we are a tabula rasa, yet, we have instincts.

The mind and brain are based on pattern matching and the physical evidence is that pattern matching rules the universe including the laws of physics. Unless you can account for the physical evidence your idea has no demonstrable meaning.

Barry Etheridge November 02, 2016 at 16:06 #29925 0 likes

Reply to MonfortS26

Then you have to deal with the vast reams of evidence from separated twins that suggest the very opposite.

Terrapin Station November 02, 2016 at 17:27 #29938 0 likes

Quoting MonfortS26

John Locke believed that we are all born as a blank slate, known as the tabula rasa.

That he did, but I believe he was wrong.