Innate ideas

Innate ideas
Innate In"nate ([i^]n"n[asl]t or [i^]n*n[=a]t"; 277), a. [L. innatus; pref. in- in + natus born, p. p. of nasci to be born. See {Native}.] 1. Inborn; native; natural; as, innate vigor; innate eloquence. [1913 Webster]

2. (Metaph.) Originating in, or derived from, the constitution of the intellect, as opposed to acquired from experience; as, innate ideas. See {A priori}, {Intuitive}. [1913 Webster]

There is an innate light in every man, discovering to him the first lines of duty in the common notions of good and evil. --South. [1913 Webster]

Men would not be guilty if they did not carry in their mind common notions of morality, innate and written in divine letters. --Fleming (Origen). [1913 Webster]

If I could only show, as I hope I shall . . . how men, barely by the use of their natural faculties, may attain to all the knowledge they have, without the help of any innate impressions; and may arrive at certainty without any such original notions or principles. --Locke. [1913 Webster]

3. (Bot.) Joined by the base to the very tip of a filament; as, an innate anther. --Gray. [1913 Webster]

{Innate ideas} (Metaph.), ideas, as of God, immortality, right and wrong, supposed by some to be inherent in the mind, as a priori principles of knowledge. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • innate ideas — Ideas that are inborn and not the product of experience. The controversy over their existence formed a major element in Locke s rejection of the philosophy of Descartes, and Locke was in turn attacked over the issue by Leibniz . The question was… …   Philosophy dictionary

  • Innate — In nate ([i^]n n[asl]t or [i^]n*n[=a]t ; 277), a. [L. innatus; pref. in in + natus born, p. p. of nasci to be born. See {Native}.] 1. Inborn; native; natural; as, innate vigor; innate eloquence. [1913 Webster] 2. (Metaph.) Originating in, or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • empiricism — empiricist, n., adj. /em pir euh siz euhm/, n. 1. empirical method or practice. 2. Philos. the doctrine that all knowledge is derived from sense experience. Cf. rationalism (def. 2). 3. undue reliance upon experience, as in medicine; quackery. 4 …   Universalium

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