John Locke and René Descartes are often seen as two of the first early philosophers. Both seek answers to the same questions such as: is there certainty in knowledge? What is knowledge? How does our mind work? Even though Locke and Descartes ask the same questions, they do not get the same answers. My goal in this article is to compare and contrast the beliefs of Locke and Descartes and explain which view I prefer more. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay John Locke believes that all knowledge comes solely through experience. Locke does not believe in any certain knowledge, he believes that “all ideas come from sensation and reflection” and that the only way to gain knowledge is through experience (Locke, 2). Locke argues that at birth the mind is like a blank book, that we are not born with logical principles such as a square has four sides or two plus two equals four. He believes that this type of information is not innate and that it takes experience to acquire this type of knowledge. Locke argues that as humans we fill our minds with ideas as we experience the world, and without those experiences there would be no ideas or knowledge. In summary, Locke believes that all knowledge comes from experience and that all knowledge is acquired. On the contrary, according to Descartes, knowledge depends on certainty. Descartes believes that knowledge cannot come from the external world through the 5 senses because perception is unreal. Descartes says that he dreams of things that seem so realistic to him while he sleeps. He had a dream where he sits by the fire in his room and it seems like he can feel the real heat of the fire, just like he feels it in his real life, even though there is no fire. The fact that he feels the fire doesn't really allow him to understand when he is awake and when he is dreaming. Therefore, if his five senses can convey the heat of fire to him when he does not actually feel it, he cannot trust that fire exists when he feels it in his real life. Descartes argues that if knowledge does not come from within it must come from an experience of the external world with a rigorous application of reason to all problems. Even though Descartes states that knowledge can come from experiencing the external world, he still believes that knowledge from within is the only certain knowledge. John Locke was the first to define the self as consciousness. Locke defines the self as “that thinking and conscious thing which is sensible, or conscious of pleasure and pain, capable of happiness or unhappiness, and therefore concerned with itself, so far as that consciousness extends” (Locke 1694, p. 307 ). Locke believes the key is consciousness. He argues that it is the consciousness of one's experiences carried forward to the present moment as memory that gives us identity with our previous self. Therefore, because memories are continually created and because we do not always remember the same things, our identity is fluid, constantly changing, discontinuous and can die, even if the body continues to live. As in the case of extreme amnesia. Locke also believes that consciousness can be transferred from one person to another and that personal identity goes with them as well. Locke states: “The question is what makes the same person; and not whether it is the same identical substance, which always thinks in the same person, which, in this case, is of no importance: different substances, through the same consciousness (where they participate in it) being united in one person, just as bodies different from the same life are united in one animal, whose identity is preserved in that change of substances through the unity of continued life” (Locke 1694, p. 148). Thus, while the soul.