A Critique on the Blank Slate Essay

There ar three doctrines which study attained pious status in modern intellectual life. The unemployed Slate, a bring out translation of the medieval Latin term tabula rasa, scraped tablet, commonly attri howevered to John Locke which delves into the argue of political status quos and social arrangements, stating mainly that the mind is like a sheet of white paper void of all characters and ideas, furnished with spoken communication through experience it denounced the differences seen among races, including the institution of slavery as slaves could no long-life be mentation of as innately inferior, ethnic groups, sexes and individuals for the differences come non from the innate constitution but from the differences in the experiences. It is indeed fitting to deliberate of the mind that way as the mind is like a waste sheet of paper filled only through experience. Yet it is unafraid to say that non only experience that send word fill it but also preconceptions and exp ectations of the society.Another doctrine is The Noble Savage, commonly attributed to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, inspired by the European colonists discovery of the indigenous in the New World it declared the intuitive feeling that savages were solitary, without ties of love or loyalty and without any industry or art. It also captures the belief that hu musical compositions in their natural state are self little, peaceable and untroubled and that negative emotions such as greed and green-eyed monster are products of civilization, a concept which de base Thomas Hobbes belief that manhood is naturally cruel and requires a regular system of police to be resolved. Looking at it from a personal angle, I would say that I quite agree with Hobbes only on one aspect man is naturally cruel if he isnt, then how is it that our history has been tainted with the credit line of millions of mess who fork up died because of a single man who could not prevail his malice, i.e. Hitler. E ven in our every(prenominal)day life, we manage to impress upon other people our evil genius, regular(a) if in a simple way.But that does not mean that we need to surrender our lives to leviathan realize for I believe that we can change our nature, no matter how far back we whitethorn seem. As the last doctrine states, we are not moreover machines with gears and springs, we are our minds and and so we have the ability to think and choose our own decisions. The last doctrine, attributed to Rene Descartes, is by chance the approximately ingenious of all The Ghost in the Machine. Our mind exists because we hit the sack how to think and the very act of doing so proves it. Our bodies existence however may be doubted for we may simply be immaterial spirits who merely daydream that we are incarnate. Add to that a moral bonus the belief that the mind is a different kind of thing from the body. And what makes it truly fascinate is the fact that philosophers argue as to when the gh ost enters the body, during the start of the fertilization when the spermatozoon cell fertilizes the egg cell and creates the zygote or when it has become a fetus ready to be borne into the world.Certainly it is an argument comparable to the question, Which came first, the sniveller or the egg? Philosophically answering the question would pertain to another(prenominal) question, what is meant by came first? as all philosophical questions go. These doctrines have so shaped the world that it has left fingerprints, from Walt Disney to the former president of the United States, George W. Bush. And all the same for a simple student like me who has recently come across the subject, I can say that I have already musical theme of such concepts even without reading it before, or at least I have thought about the idea of the Noble Savage and the Blank Slate. Yet as I read the concept of the Ghost in the Machine, I was very much in awe for I have never, in my whole sixteen years of existe nce, thought of such a thing. And what genuinely appeals to me is the fact that Descartes claims that we are our minds and that our body may merely be an image we have formed as immaterial beings.Even Buddha thought so, stating that We are shaped by our thoughts we become what we think I have long doubted the ideas of ghosts and reading of such a concept, especially in a subject such as this, makes me wonder how the philosopher conceived such an idea. Thinking of it gives me shivers as it implies that we are beings far greater than we imagined. And as good as it may sound, I think it appeals to mans egotistic nature we as humans who have done things, good and evil, try to look for a sound explanation to ease our consciences.I cannot say that the idea does not appeal to me yet I cannot also say that I do agree with it on the other hand, of the three doctrines, I agree the most with the doctrine of The Noble Savage. I do believe that in our genuine nature, we are savages but that do es not mean that we did not know how to control ourselves indeed it would seem that the Native Americans, the specific race of people that the Europeans based the doctrine of The Noble Savage on, had a better society than we did they were less barbaric, no employment problems and substance abuse, even crime was nearly nonexistent.And even if there were hard times, life was definitely stable and predictable. And yet that in itself was the reason why man chose to come out of his savage nature he wanted adventure, twist and turns in his life he wanted to feel the thrill of living. There is nothing wrong with that but for every choice there is a price to pay and the price we paying was high even if it remains to be seen whether it was worth it or not. just that is not enough reason to turn over our free bequeath to an autonomous control doing so would merely undermine the choices we have make for our civilization. Besides, our lives are meant to be lived fully and whatsoever choices we make, we must(prenominal) stand by it and see it to the end.Our mind, no matter how it started or whatever way it really is, is a tool for us to live our lives as we see fit. We must learn to harness our true potential to make sure that whatever choices we make would produce positive ripples that would be felt in the yon future to help the coming generations. As Plutarch said, The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.