John Locke
English Lit: Edexcel A Level Frankenstein, topic 3.2.3
John Locke
Locke was a 17th-century philosopher who was dubbed the ‘Father of Liberalism’.
Influential theories
- Locke influenced thinkers such as Immanuel Kant and Jean Jacques Rousseau with his theories about society and the individual.
Tabula Rasa
- His theory of Tabula Rasa (meaning ‘blank slate’) is extremely pertinent to Frankenstein, as it posits the epistemological (regarding the theory of knowledge) concept that all humans are born ‘blank’ in terms of information and knowledge of the world, and that this is only gained through experience.
Nature versus nurture debate
- His theory is against the idea that certain knowledge is innate to us, and favours the side of nurture in the nature versus nurture debate.
- This appears to be supported by the Monster’s embedded meta-diegetic narrative - the narrative shows how innocent and vulnerable the Monster was until it learnt about the world through the experiences with the cottagers, William and the books it read.
Test yourself on John Locke
Which of these are true of Locke?
According to Locke's theory of Tabula Rasa, how do human's gain knowledge?