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2 ideas
5985 | Seeking and learning are just recollection [Plato] |
Full Idea: Seeking and learning are in fact nothing but recollection. | |
From: Plato (Meno [c.376 BCE], 81d) | |
A reaction: This is a prelude to the famous conversation with the slave boy about geometry. You don't have to follow Plato into the doctrine of reincarnation; this remark is a key slogan for all rationalists. As pupils in maths lessons, we pull knowledge from within. |
5986 | The slave boy learns geometry from questioning, not teaching, so it is recollection [Plato] |
Full Idea: The slave boy's knowledge of geometry will not come from teaching but from questioning; he will recover it for himself, and the spontaneous recovery of knowledge that is in him is recollection. | |
From: Plato (Meno [c.376 BCE], 85d) | |
A reaction: Of course, if maths and geometry are huge tautological axiom systems, we would expect to be able to derive them (with hints from a teacher) entirely from their axioms. It is not clear why we might be able to derive the truths of all nature a priori. |