Plato's Reminiscence Theory

A theory is a set or group of systematized ideas that manage to explain a specific phenomenon. Theories are deduced through experience, observation, or logical reasoning. At present we know that there are various theories, which have been raised or proposed by various authors. One of these theories is that of reminiscence.

In this article we are going to explain what it is reminiscence theory in a summarized way, and the way in which Plato explained through it how we reach knowledge.

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What is the Reminiscence Theory?

In his thesis entitled reminiscence theory, the Greek philosopher Plato exposes his theory of how the human being acquires knowledge. Plato presents his theory in the dialogue "Meno" and elaborates a defense of universal and necessary knowledge, as it is the case of mathematics against the knowledge of contingent and particular things of the physical world that surrounds us.

This theory refers to the assumption that knowing is remembering and that the acquisition of knowledge depends mainly on the distinction between true opinion and knowledge, likewise the theory states that it is possible to seek success when you may lack knowledge. Thus, through reminiscence it would be possible to give an answer to a question correctly without having prior knowledge.

Therefore, for Plato, acquiring knowledge has to do with remembering what the soul knew when it lived in the intelligible world of ideas before falling into the sensible world and being locked up in the body. This theory is linked to the difference between the body and the soul; it is thus that the memory is achieved through philosophical dialogue. Likewise, the theory of reminiscence conceives that wisdom and virtue come from a past life; the soul maintains that information and learned teachings and brings them into the current life of the individual.

Although it is a bit complex to be able to explain what the Meno dialogue would be, we will start by affirming that it is a conversation, which turns out to be very reflective because it exposes the thought of Plato. In this dialogue there is an exchange of ideas between the Meno, Socrates, the slave, and Anytus, a rich Athenian. Thus, in the text you can see endless questions that Meno poses to the philosopher and there is a conversation with the other two secondary characters.

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What is reminiscence?

When referring to reminiscence or anamnesis, allusion is made to that function that allows us to remember or evoke memories through thought.

Thus, through reminiscence, we can refer to those experiences or past acts that we managed to remember through a mental process, and also to abstract knowledge that is true by itself (Which, for Plato, implies that this knowledge is not in the physical world that surrounds us, but in the world of ideas).

Plato's thesis entitled "reminiscence theory" systematically exposes the paradigm of how knowledge is acquired and what is its justification. He affirms that man, despite what he can see, feel or even hear, could access knowledge; nevertheless, the veracity of it cannot be guaranteed, since not all men feel the same way, since the singularity ends up differentiating them to the moment of perceiving contingencies, events or interpretations that we can face certain events.

For this reason, it is impossible to base the theory solely on sensations, since for Plato through mathematics without the need to be experienced or felt, one can arrive at true propositions that seem to arise from one same. It is so the truth seems not to really come from the outside world but rather from the reason itself, from your mind or soul as it was conceived in ancient times. These entities seem to produce information common to all people. Thus, despite believing that knowledge comes from the outside world, true knowledge actually comes from our mind. That is why the need and importance of considering the way in which the mind provides us with knowledge.

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beyond math

Plato did not wish to limit his theory of reminiscence to mathematics alone, but, on the contrary, he wished to extend it to knowledge about physical objects. Therefore, he found himself in the difficult mission of idealizing a way in which the mind conceives external objects without necessarily having a relationship with them.

Thus, the philosopher refers that all forms of knowledge are found in the world of ideas or forms, which are located in the souls before incarnating in bodies and born. Therefore, according to Plato, all knowledge is found in the soul of man, but only in contact with the instances of forms (concrete objects) was he able to remember them.

For Plato, the knowledge that an individual who lived in it could have. That is, the subject does not actually acquire new knowledge from the outside world, but rather when interacting with the outside world he began to remember the knowledge that was established in the human beingspecifically in the soul. Thus, the theory that he raises is mainly based or grounded not in sensation, but rather in reason. Thus, for this philosopher, all of us have already acquired knowledge that lives in our soul, but we must promote its memory in order to bring it to the surface.

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Knowledge is specifically established in the soul

For Plato, knowledge of ideas is not possible through experience., but when the person considers that he is learning something, when he knows a truth not really thanks to sensible experience, because he is only remembering. This is due to the fact that before incarnating the soul inhabited the intelligible world and already knows the ideas, but upon falling into the body it has forgotten them.

Thus, for the philosopher, the soul belongs to the intelligible world, since it knows the ideas, but by incarnating it has forgotten them, however, through the dialogue it is possible to remember them through a series of questions, it is possible to extract this knowledge that was inside the soul.