In philosophy and psychology, an innate idea is a concept or item of knowledge which is said to be universal to all humanity—that is, something people are born with rather than something people have learned through experience.
The issue is controversial, and can be said to be an aspect of a long-running nature versus nurture debate, albeit one localized to the question of understanding human cognition.
Read more about this topic: Innatism
Famous quotes containing the words innate and/or idea:
“In every one of us there are two ruling and directing principles, whose guidance we follow wherever they may lead; the one being an innate desire of pleasure; the other, an acquired judgment which aspires after excellence.”
—Socrates (469–399 B.C.)
“To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)