Socrates And The Slave Boy example essay topic

Many philosophers have inquired about what is knowledge. Most believe that knowledge is attained by being taught, and not suppressed in our mind since birth. In Plato's Meno, Socrates argues in favor of the pre existing knowledge, that knowledge is essentially suppressed, and is brought to light through questioning. The argument, which comes from this view of "knowledge", is that if you know what it is you are inquiring about, you don't need to inquire, because you already know. However, if you do not know what it is you are inquiring about, you are unable to inquire, because you do not know what you inquiring.

One outcome about this view is Plato's rejection of the claim that knowledge is derived from experience. However when you look at the scene between Meno, Socrates and the slave boy, you can see some flaws in this thinking. Plato uses Socrates' experiment where he asks one of Meno's slave boys to demonstrate this theory of recalling knowledge by using geometry. In some cases Socrates' questions are almost leading the slave boy into the answer.

Socrates' places obvious questions in front of the boy that can be recognized immediately. Also, opposite to Plato's views, I believe that knowledge can be obtained through other means, and not only through questioning and recollection. In the experiment, Socrates guides a slave through a series of geometric proofs to show that the slave already possessed this knowledge and, therefore, that "learning" is not acquiring but recollection. Plato continues, and says that the slave is simply recalling knowledge learned in a former life. I believe that there are two views to consider when debating this issue.

Firstly, there is the possibility that Socrates merely asked the right questions, bringing the knowledge that was suppressed in the boy's mind out so he could solve the problems. This was the message that Plato was trying to convey. However, this would also mean the boy had already learned this information in another life. With this, it means that this would have been a problem in the other life, and if learning is not possible now, only recollection, where did he receive this information in the first place, as it would not have been possible in a previous life. The second view is how did the boy, who did not have any prior knowledge or geometry, recognize the proofs. You have to believe that the boy already had these answers in his mind or he could not have confidently said yes or no to a question.

Also, that the boy says yes to correct answers because he sees that it is the obvious answer. It is easier to believe this when getting the correct answers requires only basic intelligence. An example to contradict this is the subject of chemistry for example. It involves skills that need to be taught by a teacher, as both require advanced processes to do correctly. Socrates may have been able to teach a slave boy basic geometric proofs using drawings in the sand, but the teaching of any other more complex would have required the passing on of knowledge that could not possibly have been "recalled" by the boy. The boy would never be able to devise a correct chemical formula no matter if Socrates gave him all the materials needed for the experiment.

The process of it would not be able to be "recalled", only taught by showing or reading. In conclusion, I believe that the views of Socrates are flawed in the respect that not all subject matter can be "recalled". Many of the more basic subjects, including geometry could be viewed as able to being "recalled" because anyone who was asked the right questions could eventually come up with correct answers. While as I stated above, more complex subjects, involving processes could not be simply "recalled.".