Talk:Tabula rasa

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	Social and political philosophy

Charles Krauthammer calls Harriet Mier a "tabula rasa."

Initial Statement

I might remove the second assertion, that "all their knowledge comes from sensory experience" because it doesn't seem to me to be the key, but a derivative of it. Also it's redundant. The OED defines knowledge as "Facts, information and skills acquired by a person through experience or education." Knowledge is defined as that which is learned through experience, so saying it comes from experience is unnecessary. What do you think of "Tabula rasa (Latin: blank slate) is the epistemological thesis that individuals are born without ideas."? (216.70.134.34 (talk) 10:02, 27 February 2009 (UTC))[reply]

Last two links

Are the links to playtr.com and bcpalternative.blogspot.com appropriate? JemeL 07:34, 3 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I've removed the link to playtr.com that remained, as it already existed on the article specific to that topic: Tabula Rasa. jareha 16:30, 30 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

er, incidental musings?

cute, but not encyclopedic. ... aa:talk 21:38, 15 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Add to references?

A band called Sinch actually has a song titled "Tabula Rasa". To confirm, check Sinch (album). --Skudd 01:15, 14 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There's also an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called "Tabula Rasa". It's from the show's sixth season, and in it, a spell is cast that causes the characters to lose all memory of their identities (for instance, Buffy forgets she's the Slayer, and decides that she's named "Joan"). E.g. their mental slates are wiped nearly clean (I say "nearly" because they can still walk, etc., and are still able to speak in fluent English, and seeing as language is a learned thing...). The episode's relatively famous in the fandom and is definitely a reference to the psychological philosophy of Aquinas and Aristotle, so it might be well worth noting here. However, you wouldn't want to put it in "References", as that's where key sources typically go. :) Perhaps a brief pop culture references section? Runa27 19:15, 24 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I added the Buffy and Lost episodes to this article as long ago as April 2005, and since then the entries have been removed added again (by other people) ... and then removed once more. People who watch these series feel compelled to add them, and those who think that an encyclopedia can manage without them will remove them. Personally, I wouldn't mind a popular culture section. A discussion is needed here first so that a consensus can be reached – either to ensure that such a section is maintained and not removed, or to ensure that such a section is removed should anyone try to add such entries. Thanks. — Lee J Haywood 20:02, 25 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I am not going to fix it because it contributes to the stupidity of the idea, but saying that sexual identity is due to experience is utter nonsense. See David Reimer for a horror story as well as John Money. Keith Henson 23:04, 15 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The statement under History section, "In Eastern philosophy, the notion of tabula rasa is not explicitly mentioned, though there are many reasons to consider that it is a much relied upon idea.[citation needed]", needs to be removed since this is not true. Eastern philosophy has long believed that a person is reborn and carries "impressions" from his previous life into the present one. There are references to this fact, but it is not the topic here. The "blank slate" is clearly the western philosophy.

A propensity to "manage" society, where the real power must be if people are born blank.

What does that mean? 1Z 19:40, 15 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

potential straw-man / generalization

"Proponents of tabula rasa favor "nurture" in the nature versus nurture debate." Well, as far as I know, one can yet favor "nurture" on this debate and be far from a proponent of tabula rasa. Is not the actual tabula rasa a very radical position that nearly implies that humans have some sort of "immaterial" "soul" that is independent of everything material except learning during life?

I've seen people saying things such as "mendelism is bourgeoisie science", arguing that language is not an instinct or innate ability of the species, and once, while discussing the subject, someone tried to be sarcastic with me saying that perhaps he was irritated because of too much testosterone in his organism, actually impling that hormones have nothing to do with mood - I was the one arguing for a "not-so-blank" slate. This sort of things form what I know to be "tabula rasa". However, I would say myself that the bulk of human behavioral differences between groups, sexes, individuals and during the lifetime of an individual (mostly on adulthood, not so much in childhood and adolescence) are due to several levels of individual or collective experiences. And yet I do acknowledge that hormones, brains and genes have their roles, most evidently on anomalities, and that there's human nature, such as language instincts, built on our brains, made by our genes.

So, am I a blank slater withouth knowing (despite of being accused to be a "biological determinist" by some people), or the term has a much narrower meaning as I think it has? --Extremophile 01:05, 19 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I removed parts which were extremely biased, implying that the thesis of tabula rasa shows that sexuality is guided by nurture (with a citation that attempted to debunk the genetic basis of homosexuality). Such language should not be inserted. There is no contradiction in supporting the idea of tabula rasa and believing that homosexuality has a genetic basis as a sexual attraction. --Revolución hablar ver 23:30, 24 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Rousseau?

I see Aristotle, and Aquinas, and Locke...but no Rousseau. Maybe I'm mixing up Locke and Rousseau (as usual) but didn't Rousseau also use the idea of a 'tabula rasa' (possibly inspired by Locke)? A philosopher or historian who could clarify this would be great. ^^ Michelle (talk) 03:44, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Cartesian architecture

I've removed this from the architecture section - "Paradoxically, and because of misunderstandings, the tabula rasa may be associated in architectural circles with ideas about Cartesian space and the Cartesian subject rather than with the term's use by Locke.".

The first paragraph is fine relating to the 'blank slate' idea - this is in a widespread lexicon of architectural discourse, the above is not - and as it's unsourced, I've removed it. --Joopercoopers (talk) 22:24, 23 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Computer science "rejects" Tabula Rasa

The section on computer science mumbles too much – computer science in general disregard Tabula Rasa as erroneous, no defences. One simply doesn't start a program without initial data, and one doesn't start a program without code. Said: Rursus ☻ 08:17, 31 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And that said: the computer science need not by necessity be true in this. Being a philosopher, thinking: "now let us regard this state as a tabula rasa, what if ..." (etc.). The computer science is very intent on initial states and development therefrom, so computer science has its specific bias. Said: Rursus ☻ 08:23, 31 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Revisited: Now, very well formulated, but still we need some citation if such can be found. ... said: Rursus (bork²) 21:04, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Descartes

Locke and the empiricists used the idea of tabula rasa to counter rationalism of Descartes, should this be mentioned in the article? Wandering Courier (talk) 04:47, 19 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]