Plato's "Recollection Argument"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how in the book, "Phaedo", Plato argues that the human being is spiritual and offers a series of arguments that illustrate that human beings are not just material beings, but have a spiritual component in the form of an immortal soul. It looks at how one of the arguments in this work is known as the "recollection argument." The argument is described, then followed with a critical analysis that questions its validity. In conclusion, a new position on the argument is analyzed, which offers a suitable alternative to Plato's theory and illustrates that the "recollection argument" is not valid evidence that there is a soul that exists before birth.

From the Paper:

"Another problem is that Plato does not provide evidence for the idea of recollection as a whole. For example, Plato says that recollection is recalling something that has been previously known. However, not everything an individual experiences is based on recollection. A person who sees a hat for the first time, may not recall anything based on viewing the hat. Instead, they acquire knowledge from the experience of seeing a hat. Therefore, experiencing something is a means of acquiring knowledge. The problem in Plato's argument is that he does not make a case for why developing values cannot be based on experience. For example, he asserts that individuals are born with a sense of 'absolute beauty' which is used to determine the level of beauty of a scene or an individual."

More papers on Plato's "Recollection Argument":

• Analytical Essay # 116497 : "Plato's Theory of Ideas"
• Term Paper # 130048 : "Socrates' Learning"
• Essay # 54054 : "A Dialogue with Socrates"

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