Tabula rasa definition6/12/2023 ![]() ![]() The has shifted and grown over the course of centuries. ![]() Talk therapy, like all other ideas in psychology, have evolved since they were first introduced. Locke used this theory to argue that while all humans belong to the same society, each individual has “natural” rights. His essays, including “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” and “Essays on the Law of Nature” described the mind as a “white paper.” Only experience would shape what is written on the white paper, including information about mortality. He is often credited as the founder of British empiricism, as well as the “Father of Liberalism.” Ibn Tufail, Aristotle, and other earlier psychologists had a serious influence on 17th century philosopher John Locke. This upbringing shaped many of his decisions and behaviors, including the commitment to not eating meat. The child learned skills only through the animals on the island around him. He described a feral child’s upbringing on an isolated island. Ibn Tufail, for example, was an Andalusian– Islamic philosopher who wrote about tabula rasa in the 12th century. The next psychologists to discuss this subject didn’t do so until the 11th and 12th centuries. Sure, what we take in through the senses becomes the first characters or words written on our “blank slate.” But our ability to process what we take in is something we have before we are born. This means that the idea of tabula rasa has been around for over 2,000 years! But the Ancient Greeks didn’t believe that we learn everything after we are born. Early WritingsĪs I just mentioned, Aristotle wrote about the idea back in Ancient Greece. ![]() Let’s look at a history of tabula rasa and the main voices who have supported the theory. Since then, the idea has been refined and shaped by various psychologists. Psychologists often credit Aristotle as the first philosopher or psychologist to write about this idea. The tabula rasa argues that we are more impressionable and able to be molded by the way our parents raise us, how we grow up, and what we are taught. This nativist idea states that no matter what happens to us after birth, some of our decisions or traits are pre-determined. This is in contrast to the idea that we are born with certain traits based on our genes. Our decisions and behaviors stem solely from our experiences. Through all of these experiences, we form thoughts and personality traits. This “slate” becomes filled with each new experience. Tabula rasa is a Latin term and theory that describes our mind as a “blank slate” at birth. The use of this expression was so useful and popular that it has survived the passing of time, the phrase is one of our 'Latin legacies'.Where Tabula Rasa Fits Into Psychology Today What Does Tabula Rasa Mean in Psychology? The Latin language spread throughout the western world and was taught in schools and spoken by the greatest scholars. "We must make a tabula rasa of the whole situation." This phrase or expression "Tabula rasa" meaning "Blank or clean slate" is also applied in situations in which there is a need, or an opportunity, to start again from the beginning. ![]() It was used by John Locke in his essay Essay Concerning Human Understanding who adopted it in his critique of the theory of innate ideas and his views on the featureless, unformed mind. The concept of "Tabula rasa" (a clean slate) has been used by many famous philosophers including Aristotle, Plato and Albertus Magnus. The term 'rasa' means to erase or scrape. The tablet was made of wood and covered with a layer of wax that could be scraped leaving a smoothed tablet or a blank slate. The origin of the expression "Tabula rasa"was coined by the philosopher John Locke and dates back to era of the ancient Romans who used a reusable wax tablet called a 'tabula' to make notes. ![]()
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