Plato Reading Quiz 1

Front 1

PLATO

Back 1

THE THEORY OF THE FORMS AND DOCTRINE OF RECOLLECTION

Front 2

WHO IS PLATO?

Back 2

Plato was a philosopher in classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens

Front 3

Academy In Athens

Back 3

This was the first institution of higher learning in the western world.

Front 4

What two approaches to believe and knowledge does Plato distinguish?

Back 4

Sense Perception & Reason

Front 5

Sense perception

Back 5

Sense perception has as its object the fleeting world of particular objects, which appear differently at different times. Hence it is an unstable relationship, yielding only fallible opinion or belief.

Front 6

IN OTHER WORDS.......

Back 6

Sense perception is understanding/ Knowledge gained through the use of one of the senses. I.e. Sight, Taste, Touch or Hearing. (An example would be someone knowing what song is playing on the radio after hearing it.)

Front 7

Reason

Back 7

Grasps something that is absolute, unchanging, and universal.

Front 8

IN OTHER WORDS.....

Back 8

Reason is something that is definite like a universal definite. i.e We know that a Tree is a Tree we can understand that what the definite universal appearance of a tree is.

Front 9

Difference between Sense Perception and Reason.

Back 9

Sense perception is with our senses, Reason is something that we understand and know is a absolute definite.

i.e. Reason helps us have a definite understanding that a Tree is a Tree because we have understanding of this definite. But Sense perception causes us to see a specific type of tree like understanding the difference between an OAK tree and a Redwood tree.

Front 10

Plato's "Theory of Recollection"

Back 10

This is the classic expression of the doctrine that we are born with innate ideas or a priori knowledge, an implicit knowledge prior to experience, which recollection makes explicit.

Front 11

IN OTHER WORDS.......

Back 11

This theory stats that we already have prior knowledge from a past being to which we recollect understanding of that prior knowledge. "we do not learn we (re)collect prior knowledge."

Front 12

Meno's Question

Back 12

Meno wants to know whether virtue can be taught or whether it is learned by practice or some other way.

Front 13

How do you know when you have found the answer to you question?

Back 13

Two possible ways or theory

Front 14

(1)Either you do not know the answer and so won't know when you have found it

Back 14

(2)You already know the answer, in which case why make an inquiry?

Front 15

Socrates

Back 15

Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher who is credited to be one of the founders of western philosophy. (Plato's teacher and influence to pursue philosophy)

Front 16

Socrates began seeking out the answer to the essential point the questions above had raised.

Back 16

Are we incapable of learning anything new?

Front 17

Meno's Question to Socrates...

Back 17

How do you enquirer into that which you do no know? What will you put forth as the subject of you do not know? And if you find out what you know how do you know that this is the thing which you did not know?

Front 18

IN OTHER WORDS......

Back 18

How do you question something that you don't know?

How would you even ask the question if you don't know anything about the subject?

And if you were to find the answer. How would you know that the answer is the answer to the inquiry that you have questioned?

Front 19

Socrates Response...

Back 19

Socrates thinks that Meno's argumentative proposal is not sound because at the end of the day "We Do Not Learn"

Front 20

Meno asks Socrates to explain further by asking to teach him what he means when he says "We Do Not Learn"

Back 20

Socrates responds saying that there is no teaching there is only recollection.

Front 21

Socrates then grabs an young boy and begins to explain his theory.

Back 21

Box and the 4 sides and doubling and stuff that we talked about in class......ring a bell?

Front 22

No? well lets do a brief explanation..

Back 22

Socrates asks the young boy to verify his knowledge about the geometry of a square. then Socrates asks the boy if a double square comes from a double line or doubling the sides of the square.

Front 23

Square

Back 23

Doubling the sides to from a double square?

Front 24

The boy then says yes and Socrates begins to probe the boy more about his understanding of the Geometry of a Square.

Back 24

He then proves to the boy that doubling the sides would then make the square 4x4 which is not the same as double the square.

Front 25

2x2 is not the same is 4x4

[2x2 is 4] {4x4 is 16} (4 is not half of 16)

Back 25

Socrates then does the same thing with 3 inches instead of 4

Front 26

Still not the Same.

Back 26

By this point the young boy is fed up because he cannot answer Socrates' question and is completely irritated.

Front 27

Socrates then explains to the boy the answer to the question.

Back 27

This basically says that in order to double the size of the square you would have to cut each box in half diagonally and forming a diamond and doubling the size by adding each diagonal side to the ends.

Front 28

This proves that the boy had no knowledge of the answer at the time but when "spoon fed" through questions to help the boy find and understand the answer to the question he proved his theory of recollection to be true.

Back 28

The boy said all of the answer from his own head, Socrates then goes on to say that "He who does not know may still have true notions of that which he does not know."