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Impossible By Socrates

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The paradox “learning is impossible” presented by Socrates in 80e consists of two situations about knowledge—either you know something or you don't. If you know something, you don’t have to learn it because you already know it. And if you don’t know a certain thing at all, you still cannot learn it because either it's impossible “to aim to search” for it or you don’t even recognize this is the kind of knowledge that you are seeking when coming across it. The “recollection” is a “recalling ” or a “searching ” process which allows a human to realize things and knowledge that they already knew before. Socrates claims that all human souls are “immortal” and they have seen “all things” and learned about “all things” in the “underworld” (81c) but they just don’t realize it. The “recollection” rules out the whole part of the second situation—“ you don’t know—“ by saying that humans have all kinds of knowledge already. Therefore, the premise “if you don’t know” is false. Also, the “recollection” is necessary to recall what they knew already. For Meno, this is also called “learning.” Therefore “recollection” attacks the conclusion of the first situation—“you don’t have to learn”. …show more content…

Socrates uses three facts to defend his claim about "recollection". Those three facts are: 1. Before the “recollection”, the slave didn’t know or knew little about

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