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Abstract
It is widely believed that the philosophical concept of 'tabula rasa' originates with Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding and refers to a state in which a child is as formless as a blank slate. Given that both these beliefs are entirely false, this article will examine why they have endured from the eighteenth century to the present. Attending to the history of philosophy, psychology, psychiatry and feminist scholarship it will be shown how the image of the tabula rasa has been used to signify an originary state of formlessness, against which discourses on the true nature of the human being can differentiate their position. The tabula rasa has operated less as a substantive position than as a whipping post. However, it will be noted that innovations in psychological theory over the past decade have begun to undermine such narratives by rendering unintelligible the idea of an 'originary' state of human nature.
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Philosophy, the journal of The Royal Institute of Philosophy is published by Cambridge University Press quarterly in January, April, July and October. The editorial policy of the journal pursues the aims of the Institute: to promote the study of philosophy in all its branches: logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, social and political philosophy and the philosophies of religion, science, history, language, mind and education. Contributors are expected to avoid all needless technicality.
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The "Educationalists" believed that children were born as "blank slates", beginning their lives morally neutral. From this point of view, infants were neither inherently good or inherently evil. A child's nature and personality would develop over childhood, a period of time during which the educationalists believed a child was particularly impressionable. Adults surrounding a child could potentially have a very lasting effect on his personality.
Perhaps the man most influential to educationalist theory was John Locke. As Margaret J. M. Ezell puts it, his 1693 book Some Thoughts concerning Education presents the basic argument that "a child's mind must be educated before he is instructed, that the true purpose of education is the cultivation of the intellect rather than an accumulation of facts." According to Locke, the ideal education would instill a strong moral sense. In particular, a child should be taught virtue, wisdom, breeding, and learning. 34
This was possible because, among other reasons, a child's mind was a "tabula rasa", or blank slate (Locke originally used the term in his earlier work An Essay concerning Human Understanding, considered by modern philosophers to be his most influential work). Since the child's mind was so malleable, a parent could mold him with careful diligence. After all, one could write good moral sense upon a blank slate as well as numerous faults.30
Some Thoughts concerning Education was an extremely popular book. While earlier thinkers had espoused similar ideas, educationalist theory was largely ignored until Locke's publication. By 1750 over a dozen editions had been published, and the book was translated into French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Swedish. The huge popularity of Locke's book helped make popular the discussion of childhood as a separate stage of development from adulthood. Not only were parents influenced by his work, but so were other thinkers and writers of the time.