Plato's Reminiscence Theory

In this lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a brief summary of Plato's Theory of Reminiscence, in which the philosopher exposes his theory of knowledge. The Greek philosopher presents it in his dialogue "Meno" and it constitutes a defense of universal and necessary knowledge like that of mathematics, against the knowledge of the particular and contingent things of the physical world.

Know, for the one from Athens, is to remember, since the soul already knows the truth, because before falling trapped in a body, it inhabited the world of ideas and therefore knows them. Same as his teacher Socrates, Plato defends an innate knowledge. It is not about introducing it, but about taking it out of each one. Because the truth is found inside every human being. If you want to know more about Plato's Reminiscence Theory, continue reading this article by a PROFESSOR.

Index

1. Theory of knowledge:
2. Knowledge as a dialectical process
3. Summary of the Reminiscence Theory and its foundation

Let us remember that Plato starts from a division of the world (ontological dualism), according to which, there are two levels of reality. On the one hand there is the sensible world, the physical world of particular and contingent things, a changing world, subject to generation and corruption and which is accessed through the senses. On the other, there is the intelligible world, the world of universal and necessary ideas, immutable and eternal, the world of reason.

His ontological dualism leads him to his epistemological dualism and thus he will defend the existence of two levels of knowledge: that of the science or episteme, of truth and true knowledge, proper to the intelligible world, and that of the opinion or doxa, typical of the sensible world (Simile de la Línea).

In the same way, it defends that a anthropological dualism: the human being is body and soul. The body belongs to the physical world and the soul to the world of ideas, in which it lived before falling and be trapped in the body, which will be freed with its death, returning to the world intelligible. The soul has already been in contact with ideas, it knows them, but when it incarnates, it has forgotten them. Thanks to dialogue, it is possible to remember them. Because knowing is nothing more than remembering.

The Theory of Reminiscence is fundamental in the Plato's theory of knowledge and thus exposes it in the Meno:

"And so it happens that, being the immortal soul, and having been born many times and having seen both here and Hades and all things, there is nothing that he has not learned; so it is not surprising that also about virtue and about other things she is able to remember what she of course already knew before. Because, in fact, the whole of nature being homogeneous, and the whole soul having learned it, nothing prevents whoever remembers a single thing (and this is what men call learning), find out for himself all the others, if he is a brave man and does not tire of investigating. For investigating and learning, therefore, are nothing but reminiscence at all."

The knowledge of ideas, It is not possible through experience, says Plato, but when the human being believes that he is learning something, when you know a truth, it is not thanks to the sensitive experience, you are only remembering. Because the soul, before incarnating itself, inhabited the intelligible world and knows ideas, but when it falls into the body, it has forgotten them.

The soul belongs to the intelligible world, he knows ideas, but in incarnating himself, he has forgotten them. But through dialogue it is possible to remember them. Thanks to a series of precise questions, it is possible to extract the knowledge that is inside the human soul. Knowledge is not introduced from the outside, but is inside human beings, it is necessary, therefore, to bring them to light (Socratic maieutics).

“MEN.- Yes, Socrates; but what do you mean by saying that we do not learn but that what we call learning is reminiscence? Could you show me that this is so?

Sóc.- I told you before, Meno, that you are clever, and now you ask me if I can teach you, that I affirm that there is no teaching, but I remember, so that I immediately put myself in manifest contradiction with myself same.

MEN.- No, by Zeus, Socrates, I didn't say it with that intention, but out of habit; Now if you can somehow show me what you say, show me.

Sóc.- Well, it is not easy, and yet I am willing to make an effort for you. But call me one of those many servants of yours, the one you want, to make you understand him. "

Plato's Reminiscence Theory can be summarized as follows: the coknowledge is innate, since the human soul already knew the truth before incarnating in the body, and through the dialectics, it is possible to remember them. Therefore, what the human being calls learning, is nothing more than remembering. The main mission of the human being is life, it is to remember everything that the soul already knew before falling into the body.

For Plato it is not possible, through sensible experience, of the senses, to guarantee true knowledge, since each individual's perception of reality is different. This is why he does not base his theory of knowledge on sensation, but on reason.

Mathematics, affirms the philosopher, does not need to be felt or experienced by the subject, who he is capable of arriving at true propositions that proceed from human reason and not from experience. Therefore, the truth is within each individual, in his mind, in his soul and not in the outside world.

From mathematical knowledge, Plato is going to extend his theory to the knowledge of ideas, but he must explain how this is possible without the human mind being in direct contact with them. And so he endows the ideas of an immaterial existence, which corresponds to the shape of things and from which all objects of the same class are derived. The form is the universal, and the different objects of the same class, are the particular things. That is, on the one hand there is the idea of ​​a thing and on the other, the thing.

These ideas or shapes, inhabit the intelligible world, next to the soul, and therefore he already knew them before incarnating in the body of the human being and forgetting them. Knowing, therefore, is not learning something new, but remember what the soul already knew.

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Plato, (S. IV a.c). Meno. Ed. Gredos Classical Library, 2004