In Apology Socrates suggests that
he regards himself superior to others for he knows that he doesn’t know much.
This superiority according to Socrates burdens him with the sacred mission to
remind everyone that they also don’t know anything. Such a burden dooms him to
his body to perish but his soul keeps living. In Meno, he argues that souls are
immortal and they travel from body to body. Throughout the journey the soul is
subjected to, it is able to learn the true form of concepts such as virtue, justice,
good, and evil. In Meno Socrates puts forward the doctrine of recollection
through which he argues that people don’t learn, they remember the concepts
that they learned in their previous lives.
Recollections occur when true
beliefs or opinions are stirred with questioning. After challenging the slave
with a geometrical question, the slave initially presumes that he knows the
answer but after some questioning, the slave admits that he does not know the
answer, Socrates describes this state and says “but then he thought he knew,
and answered confidently as if he did know, and he did not think himself at a
loss, but now he does think himself at a loss, and as he does not know, neither
does he think he knows” (84b). Here, Socrates sets the fundamental ground for
conditions in which recollection occurs. Socrates argues that the opinions were
already inside slaves but to bring them into light questioning is required as
only questioning will drive the individual into a state called aporia. It is
the state where the individual is aware of his lack of knowledge and is ready
to start remembering. In a way, the doctrine of recollection asserts that
people don’t learn in their present life, they solely remember the concepts
whose knowledge and opinion they acquired in their previous life. Also, through
this argument, Socrates implies that teachers are not implanting knowledge into
our souls but they can provide the necessary conditions for knowledge to
emerge. One example could be Socrates himself. In “Apology” he compares himself
with a gadfly that will irritate and trigger “sluggish” people and enlighten
people about their lack of knowledge portraying himself as a necessary evil.
Thereby, when Socrates puts forward the idea of recollection, he claims that
the individuals’ souls have absolute knowledge and opinions, and the body can
only remember those through questioning.
Meno reacts to Socrates’ dialectic method by
comparing Socrates with a torpedo fish which numbs the brain and causes Meno to
have no answer regarding what virtue is. Meno admits “Yet I have made many
speeches about virtue before large audiences on a thousand occasions”, and he
adds “but I cannot even say what it is”.
This carries utmost importance as it is the exact state Socrates wants
him to be at. However, Meno argues that such a state will cause motionlessness
by proposing the notorious paradox, Meno Paradox, “How will you aim to search
for something you do not know at all?” (80d). While this paradox allows
Socrates to further expand on his argument, it also draws a contrast between
Meno and Socrates. The doctrine of recollection encourages people to question
themselves and others, but Meno’s paradox suggests that such questioning is in
vain as people cannot know what they don’t know. To reply to this Socrates
suggests that “We must, therefore, not believe that debater’s argument, for it
would make us idle, and fainthearted men like to hear it, whereas my argument
makes them energetic and keen on the search“ (81e). This brings Meno’s previous
comment forth in which he compares Socrates with a numbing fish and blames
Socrates for causing numbness. However, here it is unveiled that Meno’s paradox
causes idleness and although this does not necessarily refute Meno’s paradox,
it suggests that the doctrine of recollection requires motion and active
questioning of the things even people are certain that they know of.
More importantly, Socrates'
refutation of the paradox conveys the essential pillar of the doctrine of
recollection, which is the combination of knowledge and true opinion. Socrates
confutes the paradox by challenging the slave with a tricky problem in which
the slave initially confidently proposes an answer and then realizes that he
was utterly incorrect. However, in the end, the slave arrives at the true
answer. In this process of arriving at the true answer, Socrates does not hint
at the answer, he merely asks questions that can bring forth the slave’s
opinions lying in his soul, and this holds vital importance as it implies that
it was the slave’s opinion that aided him in answering the question. Socrates
summarizes this by asking a rhetorical question: “So the man who does not know
has within himself true opinions about the things that he does not know?”
(85c). After establishing how true opinions emerge Socrates proceeds into the
question of what is virtue and such question raises another question that begs
to be answered: Provided that virtue is good and beneficial, the qualities that
contribute to being virtuous such as modesty, courage, and justice can
sometimes be harmful, why? To answer that question Socrates further expands his
argument of remembrance and puts forward an allegory about Daedalus and asserts
that “And that, Meno, my friend, is recollection, as we previously agreed. After
they are tied down, in the first place they become knowledge, and then they
remain in place. That is why knowledge is prized higher than correct opinion,
and knowledge differs from correct opinion in being tied down” (98e). Here
Socrates presents the fundamental structure of recollection that produces a
correct opinion that is consistent and applicable. He says “knowledge differs
from correct opinion in being tied down” meaning knowledge rests in the deeper
parts of men drawing it to be the ground for the correct opinion. A concrete
ground that can be only constructed by “giving an account of the reason why”
(98b), thereby, ensures the right belief to subsist longer. Hence, this
explanation depicts knowledge as the underpinning for the correct opinion.
In conclusion, Socrates proposes
that there is a previous and present life, implying and alluding to the idea of
reincarnation. In the individuals, previous lives the individuals learn the
concepts and in their present life, they can only remember them. Further, it
all comes down to the idea of forms and how souls are bestowed with the ability
to catch a glimpse at those forms and understand them purely. To put it another
way, the concepts appear to souls which are freed from their bodies, and it is
at that moment the soul can acquire the knowledge of a such thing. In the
physical world, according to Socrates, people should offer their relentless and
implacable effort to remember the knowledge and correct opinion they acquired
in the form realm. While this eliminates the concept of teaching and learning,
Socrates views himself as obliged to remind people of what they don’t know and
encourage them to question, and this portrays a teacher-like occupation.
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