Innocent Until Proven Guilty :: essays papers

Innocent Until Proven GuiltyTabula rasa the consciousness in the lead it is developed and changed by experience. Philosopher John Locke believed that at birth and in babyhood the mind is completely passive, a clean slate, tabula rasa, on which the experiences of the individual issue their own impressions. (Wiener, 2134) (Any influences from drugs, alcohol, by a mother in pregnancy, etc... excluded.) It is a given(p) that an infants mind is not yet fully developed early in its life. Especially at this early stage and plane far on into a pip-squeaks life he is dependent on someone - whether it be his mother, father, sister, brother, or other giving figure, who takes care of him ensuring his survival. True to Lockes theory, a childs mind has yet to be influenced by anything, hence tabula rasa. And it is also true, the experiences that a child has while growing up will profoundly dictate his purpose and personality. Education plays a role in an individuals administration th rough the experiences in which that institution exists. Different types of people also benefactor determine the personal nature of an individual. The experiences that one has due to the effects of his educational process, his social relationships with different types of people, and his association with various environments set the scene for his life, so forming his individuality.Experiences are not just events that may occur, but anything that stirs emotion or evokes a feeling or reaction in a person. Experiences roll in the hay range from actual events or physically engaging actions, to inanimate objects or concrete details, and even to other people. As long as a phenomenon causes a person to question, evaluate, or draw some sort of closure about it, and he therefore consciously or subconsciously commits it to memory, it is short an experience. In other words, an experience is by definition, anything that happens to a person anything that is seen, done, felt, or lived through. Life itself, is an experience full of experiences. All of these happenings, good and bad, are the come of a persons experiences called the frame of reference. This is the very composition that makes a person who he is. But when does one cease to rely on outside factors to prompt these experiences? When does one begin to rely on himself to give rise them? Until a person reaches this point he declines to take credit for his actions and lacks responsibility.