... a medical doctor by profession, tried to work out an explanation of our knowledge in terms of a posteriori sense experience. He studied the work of Descartes, the rationalist, and rejected the suggestion of 'innate ideas' or a priori knowledge. He believed that humans were not born with any form knowledge and said that just because something is universally agreed, its not necessarily true, and just because something is universally known, its not necessarily innate. This rejection of the a priori is central to Locke's theory; stating that the mind is a blank sheet, written on by what comes to us through our a posteriori experiences. He said that all ideas we come to have originated from either sensation or reflection. An 'idea' being a 'mental image', or a notion of an experience. Sensation is how we perceive through the senses. And reflection comes after sensation; it's any mental ...

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