‘An empiricist will derive all knowledge of the world from what the senses tell us. The classic formulation of an empirical approach came from Aristotle. He said: “There is nothing in the mind except what was first in the senses.” This view implied a pointed criticism of Plato, who had held that man brought with him a set of innate “ideas” from the world of ideas. Locke repeats Aristotle’s words, and when Locke uses them, they are aimed at Descartes.’
