An Essay Concerning Human Understanding – John Locke

"The mind is a blank slate."

John Locke argues against the idea of innate ideas, proposing that the human mind at birth is a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate) and that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience and reflection. He explores the limits of human understanding, the nature of language, and the definition of the self as a continuity of consciousness.

Locke's essay is the foundational text of British Empiricism. Its theories on identity, knowledge, and the self profoundly influenced the Enlightenment, modern psychology, and the educational theories that shape how we teach children today.