<P> Tabula rasa (/ ˈtæbjələ ˈrɑːsə, - zə, ˈreɪ - /) refers to the epistemological idea that individuals are born without built - in mental content and that therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception . Proponents of tabula rasa generally disagree with the doctrine of innatism which holds that the mind is born already in possession of certain knowledge . Generally, proponents of the tabula rasa theory also favour the "nurture" side of the nature versus nurture debate when it comes to aspects of one's personality, social and emotional behaviour, knowledge and sapience . </P> <P> Tabula rasa is a Latin phrase often translated as "blank slate" in English and originates from the Roman tabula used for notes, which was blanked by heating the wax and then smoothing it . This roughly equates to the English term "blank slate" (or, more literally, "erased slate") which refers to the emptiness of a slate prior to it being written on with chalk . Both may be renewed repeatedly, by melting the wax of the tablet or by erasing the chalk on the slate . </P> <P> In Western philosophy, the concept of tabula rasa can be traced back to the writings of Aristotle who writes in his treatise "Περί Ψυχῆς" (De Anima or On the Soul) of the "unscribed tablet ." In one of the more well - known passages of this treatise he writes that: </P> <P> Haven't we already disposed of the difficulty about interaction involving a common element, when we said that mind is in a sense potentially whatever is thinkable, though actually it is nothing until it has thought? What it thinks must be in it just as characters may be said to be on a writing - tablet on which as yet nothing stands written: this is exactly what happens with mind . </P>

Who argued that every person was born with a tabula rasa