Plato's Reminiscence Theory of Knowledge

Plato's Legacy

• Roots of cognitive psychology in Plato
• Nativism and rationalism: believed that knowledge is inborn and that mental thinking is how we arrive at truth
• Created a dualism that divided the mind and body
• Writings were warped by future religions

Aristotle

• Background: received training in medicine, became Plato's student at 17, and later tutored Alexander the Great
• Took over the Lyceum, a famed school, and made it like a modern university
• Wrote "De Anima" (On the Soul), considered the first psychology book
• Added substantially to almost every field

The Basic Difference between Plato and Aristotle

• Both focused on the essence of truth, but Aristotle believed that forms could be discovered by looking outward, not inward (studying nature)
• Viewed sensory information in a positive light and embraced both rationalism and empiricism

The Reminiscence Theory of Knowledge

• Believed that one comes to know forms by introspection, searching one's inner understanding
• The soul is a part of the perfect realm of the abstract world, but it is in the body, so it is our access to this knowledge

The Nature of the Soul

• Believed the soul was immortal and consists of the courageous, appetitive, and rational components
• Humans are often in conflict between these aspects, and to gain knowledge, a person has to quiet the two parts that are not rational
• Supreme goal in life is to be freed from the wants of the flesh

Sleep and Dreams

• People are better able to control appetites when awake than asleep
• The mind must be used to gather knowledge, but the object of rationalism is the information of the senses (empiricism)
• Both saw that essences or universals could not be discovered by only looking at one case

Causation and Teleology

• To know anything, we must understand four aspects: material, formal, efficient, and final cause
• Teleology: everything in nature exists for a reason, but not necessarily with conscious intention
• Recall is the actual mental search for a past experience

Laws of Association

• Law of contiguity: when we think of something, we also tend to think of things that were experienced with it
• Law of similarity: when we think of something, we tend to think of things similar to it
• Law of contrast: when we think of something, we also tend to think of things that are the opposite
• Law of frequency: the more experiences occur together, the stronger the association will be

Imagination and Dreaming

• Experiences create images that outlast the actual event that caused them
• These images create the important link between sensation and rational thought
• Imagination: the lingering effect of sensory experiences
• Questioned the reliability of imagination, saying sensations are free of error

Motivation and Emotion

• Happiness is doing what is natural because it fills one's purpose
• Action is always directed at the satisfaction of an appetite
• We can use our rational powers to inhibit appetites
• Using rational abilities leads to the greatest fulfillment
• The best life is lived in moderation, with a perfect balance (the golden mean)

The Importance of Early Greek Philosophy

• Popperian Science consists of specifying a problem, proposing solutions, and attempting to refute those solutions
• Aristotle's death marked the end of the golden age of Greece

Explore Plato's philosophy on knowledge through the Reminiscence Theory, which emphasizes introspection and the soul's connection to the abstract world. Learn about nativism, rationalism, and idealism as key components of this theory.