The Philosophical Case for Innate Ideas: Plato to Modern Nativism
The Thesis of Innate Ideas: Philosophical Foundations
Do you agree with the thesis that humans have innate ideas? Provide reasons for your response.
Plato’s Theory of Knowledge and Innate Ideas
Plato’s thesis regarding the existence of innate ideas must be understood within the context of his entire philosophical system. The Platonic theory of knowledge supports the acceptance that the soul is eternal and has encountered these ideas during a life that precedes its existence on Earth. The perfect life is not derived from the body and senses, but rather from the soul and the eternal, suprasensible realm.
Therefore, Plato claimed the existence of a Platonic World of Ideas—perfect and immutable—as opposed to the imperfect, sensitive, and changing world we perceive. For Plato, innate ideas are those that everyone possesses, derived from a previous life in the intelligible world before falling into the sensitive world due to the weakening of the rational soul (as illustrated in the Myth of the Winged Chariot).
Cartesian and Kantian Arguments for Nativism
Long after Plato, other philosophers, such as Descartes, argued for the existence of innate ideas: ideas stored in the minds of everyone, present at birth, or developing alongside the capacity to think, but which are not derived from or the result of sensory experience.
Kant, for example, also stated that people naturally possess a mental structure (a type of innate idea, which he called a priori forms) through which—and only through which—humans can gain knowledge of the world. Concepts such as ‘space’ or ‘time’ are, for Kant, a priori conditions of sensibility; we are born with them, and without them, it would not be possible to explain or understand any experience.
Modern Epistemological Arguments for Innate Ideas
Despite the efforts of empiricism to emphasize that the human mind is like a tabula rasa (blank slate) where all experience and knowledge are imprinted solely through sensitive data, the thesis of the existence of innate ideas, similar to the Cartesian and Kantian views, can reasonably be maintained today.
There are three major types of evidence supporting the existence of innate ideas, and furthermore, a political corollary can also be argued to defend Nativism. Below is a summary of these arguments:
1. Genetic and Evolutionary Evidence
Supporters of innate ideas today often argue from genetics and the theory of evolution. If the shape of the nose or eye is innate and determined by genes, why couldn’t ideas—i.e., mental contents—also be innate?
Furthermore, from an evolutionary perspective, certain innate behaviors offer undeniable advantages for survival. If we had to consciously think to close our eyes every time a powerful spotlight shone on us, we might go blind. It is therefore more beneficial for survival that certain behaviors (primarily related to food, but not limited to it) are triggered automatically, meaning they are innate.
2. Psychological Maturity and Abstract Reasoning
A second argument is based on psychology: certain behaviors and levels of abstract reasoning are only understandable when our psychic apparatus has matured innately. It is useless, for example, to force a three-year-old child to attempt to learn advanced mathematics, simply because they lack the innate tools that will allow them to do so several years later. This psychological maturity is innate and cannot be forced merely by the repetition of experiences.
3. Universal Perceptual Patterns
A third, more complex argument relates to the existence of perceptual patterns common to all humankind. The special sensitivity to certain shapes and colors (especially towards symmetry) appears to be innate in character.
The Political and Ethical Corollary of Nativism
Finally, an argument of political and lesser probative value could also be presented, as Descartes did in his time: that the existence of universal innate ideas demonstrates that humankind is a great family. Thus, the unity of knowledge would also witness the moral unity of mankind.
However, this argument is not obvious, as one could always respond that human freedom is born from the diversity of our ideas. The actual existence of a moral law, often called ‘natural’ or innate, has yet to be fully demonstrated. While the first three epistemological arguments in favor of innate ideas have strong enough evidence, this latter ethical consequence is less obvious, and there are very few current defenders of moral Nativism.