Recent contributions to the theory of innate ideas

Noam Chomsky

pp. 31-40

in: Robert S. Cohen, Mark W. Wartofsky (eds), A portrait of twenty-five years, Berlin, Springer, 1985

Abstrakt

I think that it will be useful to separate two issues in the discussion of our present topic — one is the issue of historical interpretation, namely, what in fact was the content of the classical doctrine of innate ideas, let us say, in Descartes and Leibniz; the second is the substantive issue, namely, in the light of the information presently available, what can we say about the prerequisites for the acquisition of knowledge — what can we postulate regarding the psychologically a priori principles that determine the character of learning and the nature of what is acquired.

Cited authors

Descartes René

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm