tabula rasa
Mind before experience
Tabula rasa is Latin for "blank slate"—the idea that the mind begins empty, without innate ideas, shaped entirely by experience.
The phrase appears in philosophical discussions of human nature and learning: Locke argued that we are born tabula rasa.
More loosely, it describes any fresh start or clean beginning: After the bankruptcy, he treated his finances as a tabula rasa.
Unmarked starting point
- clean slateRecord wiped clear
- blankWithout marks or content
- voidWithout legal effect
- unmarkedHaving no visible identification
bare · empty · unfilled · virgin · uninscribed · unwritten · unprinted · canvas
Knowledge through observation
- John LockeEnglish empiricist philosopher
- epistemologyTheory of knowledge
- nurtureSupport growth and development
- cognitive developmentAcquiring reasoning abilities over time
sensory experience · perception · psychological theory · Aristotle · behaviorism · developmental psychology · learning theory
Free from moral wrong
- pureUnmixed, without impurities
- untouchedNot contacted or affected
- uncorruptedNot spoiled or debased
- unspoiledNot damaged or degraded
unblemished · unsullied · pristine · naïve · guileless · unformed · impressionable · childlike
Opportunity to restart unburdened
- new beginningChance to start again
- starting pointPlace of commencement
- clean breakComplete, uncomplicated severance
- resetRestore to original state
restart · renewal · rebirth · new chapter · genesis · inception · outset · dawn
State of being achievable
- opportunityFavorable circumstance for advancement
- promiseCommitment to act
- prospectPotential client or opportunity
- capabilityPower to accomplish tasks
capacity · undeveloped · unrealized · latent · nascent · formative · moldable · shapeable
blank slate
Unmarked starting point
- clean slateRecord wiped clear
- blankWithout marks or content
- voidWithout legal effect
unmarked · bare · empty · unfilled · virgin · uninscribed · unwritten · unprinted · canvas · fresh start
empiricism
Knowledge through observation
- John LockeEnglish empiricist philosopher
- epistemologyTheory of knowledge
- nurtureSupport growth and development
cognitive development · sensory experience · perception · psychological theory · Aristotle · behaviorism · developmental psychology · learning theory
innocent
Free from moral wrong
- pureUnmixed, without impurities
- untouchedNot contacted or affected
- uncorruptedNot spoiled or debased
unspoiled · unblemished · unsullied · pristine · naïve · guileless · unformed · impressionable · childlike · unconditioned
fresh start
Opportunity to restart unburdened
- new beginningChance to start again
- starting pointPlace of commencement
- clean breakComplete, uncomplicated severance
reset · restart · renewal · rebirth · new chapter · genesis · inception · outset · dawn · threshold
possibility
State of being achievable
- opportunityFavorable circumstance for advancement
- promiseCommitment to act
- prospectPotential client or opportunity
capability · capacity · undeveloped · unrealized · latent · nascent · formative · moldable · shapeable · impressionable
- emptinessemptiness, void, vacuum, nothingness, blank
- fresh startfresh start, new beginning, clean slate, starting over, do-over
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
- enlightenmentVoltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Kant, Montesquieu
- blank slatesclean slate, blank page, blank canvas, clean sheet, carte blanche
- Starting from scratchblank slate, fresh start, clean slate, ground zero, starting over
tabula rasanativism
Preference for native-born citizens
a priori knowledge · anamnesis · universal grammar · instinct · hardwired
tabula rasapalimpsest
Reused writing surface, traces remain
preconceptions · imprinted · indoctrinated · prejudices · prejudice
tabula rasaclean slate
Record wiped clear
fresh start · legacy · inherited traits · ancestral memory · past experience
table, tablet, tables, tablets, tableau, tabulate, tabled, tabulation, tabular