Socrates and Knowledge
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Socrates and Knowledge
Paula Rogers
PHI/105
September 24, 2014
Ralph Krause
Socrates and Knowledge
Is knowledge something learned or something only recollected from another world? Socrates believed the soul of man was immortal and at one time it comes to an end- that which is called death- and another is born again but is never totally exterminated. Since it is immortal, and has been born many times and has seen all things both here and in the other world, has learned everything that is.so it should not be surprising that the soul can recall the knowledge of virtue or anything else that we see as possessed. All nature is akin and the soul has learned everything, so that when a man has recalled a single bit of knowledge, learned it, in ordinary language- there is no reason why he should not find out all the rest, if he keeps a stout heart and does not grow weary of the search; for seeking and learning to Socrates were in fact nothing but recollection.
Socrates then took a slave boy and proceeded to ask him questions in an effort to prove his theory. He ask the boy is a square had four equal sides and drawing for him, ask him, if it looked like what he was drawing. The boy responded “Yes.” He continued to ask this boy questions then said if the square was bigger would the sides of this square still be the same size? The boy said no it would be doubled it would be bigger a bigger square. Socrates example and argument was he did not teach the boy he already knew it.
My thoughts on this are not in agreement with Socrates. I believe at birth we are clean slates. We know nothing and our parents through them or the world around us they allow us to be a part of teach us the knowledge we know.
A counter example of Socrates theory is where does it all begin? All things have a beginning. There is not infinity of recollection. There has to be a beginning at some point of the lifetime. There is no beginning to his theory. I would ask him, “Where does it all begin?...
Paula Rogers
PHI/105
September 24, 2014
Ralph Krause
Socrates and Knowledge
Is knowledge something learned or something only recollected from another world? Socrates believed the soul of man was immortal and at one time it comes to an end- that which is called death- and another is born again but is never totally exterminated. Since it is immortal, and has been born many times and has seen all things both here and in the other world, has learned everything that is.so it should not be surprising that the soul can recall the knowledge of virtue or anything else that we see as possessed. All nature is akin and the soul has learned everything, so that when a man has recalled a single bit of knowledge, learned it, in ordinary language- there is no reason why he should not find out all the rest, if he keeps a stout heart and does not grow weary of the search; for seeking and learning to Socrates were in fact nothing but recollection.
Socrates then took a slave boy and proceeded to ask him questions in an effort to prove his theory. He ask the boy is a square had four equal sides and drawing for him, ask him, if it looked like what he was drawing. The boy responded “Yes.” He continued to ask this boy questions then said if the square was bigger would the sides of this square still be the same size? The boy said no it would be doubled it would be bigger a bigger square. Socrates example and argument was he did not teach the boy he already knew it.
My thoughts on this are not in agreement with Socrates. I believe at birth we are clean slates. We know nothing and our parents through them or the world around us they allow us to be a part of teach us the knowledge we know.
A counter example of Socrates theory is where does it all begin? All things have a beginning. There is not infinity of recollection. There has to be a beginning at some point of the lifetime. There is no beginning to his theory. I would ask him, “Where does it all begin?...