John Locke As An Advocate Of Empiricism

John Locke was best known as an advocate of empiricism and for his belief of tabula rasa, or the blank slate. In this way his beliefs were similar to those of the behaviorist school of thought. Locke is known as the father of English Empiricism. Empiricism believes that everyone is born with a blank slate that we fill as we experience life. The knowledge that we gain throughout life is due to our experiences, not through reasoning or thought. Locke believed that there is only the capacity to have ideas in the mind, not to be born with them. He states that all knowledge of the world comes from the experience we have within it, through our perceptions and senses. According the empiricism, every thought that we have is influenced by an experience that we have had. Essentially, according to Locke’s view and empiricism, the only way to know the truth about something is to actually experience it through our senses.
If John Locke is the father of English empiricism then John Watson is the father of behaviorism.
Even though he did not establish behaviorism, he was an outspoken advocate for it. Much like Locke, Watson believed in of tabula rasa, or the blank slate. Much like Locke, Watson also believed that behavior was shaped and learned through experience. He also believed that it was the different factors from each person’s life that are unique to them and these factors are what shaped that person’s actions and behaviors thus influencing their actions and behaviors (Malone, 2009). Watson also believed that behavior could be summarized to the relationships between stimuli and responses. Unlike Locke, Watson believed that observable behavior is what needs to be studied to be able to further psychological understanding, not mental
activities.