Locke and Leibniz on Innate Knowledge (Pre-Read)

Let us suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas. How comes it to be furnished? Whence comes it by that vast store, which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on it, with an almost endless variety? When has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, from experience. (Locke)

From this it appears that necessary truths, such as we find in pure mathematics and particularly in arithmetic and geometry, must have principles whose proof does not depend on instances nor, consequently, on the testimony of the senses, even though without the senses it would never occur to us to think of them. (Leibniz)

Participants who haven't done the reading are most welcome, but they will benefit a lot more by reading in advance. In particular, we will discuss extracts 5 and 6 from Part I of Cottingham's anthology - you may find it here.

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This group examines the history of Ideas and Science. Great effort is made to include lesser known thinkers whose thought has historical significance. We will also examine non-European Philosophy and Science to provide context and comparison.

The organizer is not an expert but has a long experience in organizing similar meetings. He also has an Oxford PhD in European History as well as a Cambridge MPhil on the same discipline. He currently teaches foreign languages.
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Our meeting time is: Thursday 2 pm(Los Angeles)/5 pm (New York)/10 pm (London).