Answer to Question #308097 in Philosophy for Gee

Question

Discuss John locke's view of empiricism in education

Answer 1

Empiricism is the theory of knowledge that claims that most or all our knowledge is obtained through sensory experience, rather than through rational deduction or innateness. John Locke emphasize the role of evidence and experience as the main way of justifying our knowledge claims. John Locke's views on education are based on his empirical theory of human knowledge in his famous work “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”. When born, the mind of the child is like a blank slate — “tabula rasa”, to be filled later with the data derived from sensory experience. In the field of education, Locke is significant both for his general theory of knowledge and for his ideas on the education of youth. Locke's empiricism, expressed in his notion that ideas originate in experience, was used to attack the doctrine that principles of reason are innate in the human mind.

John Locke's 1693 look at education is contemporary in its advice for motivating students: Cherish curiosity, gently rub away innocence, spare the rod, secure attention, provide recreation, treat children as rational, and explain the purpose of instruction.

In Locke’s version of home schooling, mothers and fathers are essential. “Make them in love with the company of their parents,” he says of children.