"That philosopher [Aristotle] held that the mind of man was a tabula rasa, and that there were no innate ideas."

— Berkeley, George (1685-1753)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for C. Hitch and C. Davis
Date
1744
Metaphor
"That philosopher [Aristotle] held that the mind of man was a tabula rasa, and that there were no innate ideas."
Metaphor in Context
308. That philosopher held that the mind of man was a tabula rasa, and that there were no innate ideas. Plato, on the contrary, held original ideas in the mind, that is, notions which never were or can be in the sense, such as being, beauty, goodness, likeness, parity. Some perhaps may think the truth to be this; that there are properly no ideas or passive objects in the mind, but that that were derived from sense: but that there are also besides these her own acts or operations: such are notions.
(p. 149)
Provenance
Searching "tabula rasa" in ECCO
Citation
At least 9 entries in the ESTC (1744, 1747).

First published in Dublin in 1744. See A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries Concerning the Virtues of Tar-Water (London: C. Hitch and C. Davis, 1744). <Link to ESTC><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Theme
Blank Slate
Date of Entry
10/10/2006

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.