Page 9 - GALIET THE BEAUTIFUL INNATE: Meno & Theatetus Plato IV

Galiet & Galiet
Plato resorts to the Pythagorean theorem, a particular case in the central proposition of Euclidean geometry, to demonstrate his Theory of Recollection by way of a dialogue between Socrates and Meno’s illiterate servant. By posing precise questions, Socrates wishes to demonstrate that Meno’s servant has innate or a-priori knowledge of geometry. That is, the slave is able to recollect in this world a former life in which he contemplated the Forms directly. Recollection explains the actual apprehension of the Forms, the only fountain of true knowledge, through the shadows of the senses. Reminiscence is not only the principle of true knowledge, but also one of the fundamental proofs of the immortality of the soul.6 It can either be a methodical concept or a metaphor expressing a mytho-religious reality.7 The answer depends on how Plato’s philosophy is interpreted. For epistemologists, the Theory of Recollection defends the thesis of innate ideas. For metaphysicians, it is a myth that can be related, as Ernst Mueller posits,8 to mystic-religious traditions. In either case, however, there is something in common that any interpretation must recognize: reminiscence is an active principle of the soul. It is that which makes the soul awaken from the dream or illusion in which it dwells when lost in action, removed from contemplation and true being.
6 The proof is basically as follows:
The slave is able to recollect knowledge from within without instruction.
Either the slave acquired the knowledge a-priori or he has always had it. (85d)
If he acquired it, he did not acquire it while he was a human being. (85e).
Therefore, he must have had it when he was not a human being. (86a).
However, the slave is either a human being or not a human being. (86a).
Therefore, his soul is always in a condition of having known. (86a)
Therefore, the soul must be immortal (86b).
7 Socrates addresses priests and priestesses and speaks of Persephone just before he begins to expose his theory.
8 Ernst Muller, “Die Anamnesis. Ein Beitrag zum Platonismus,” Archiv fur Geschichte der Philosophie, 25, N.F. 18 (1912), 196-225. Trans. By Michael Dyrnaes. He relies on ‘glorious truth’ to speak divine things.
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