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yall know Socrates?

According to Socrates, how does one gain knowledge? I kinda skimmed so im not too sure and the book is like old english so i have no idea what its talking about. But i think according to him, one gains knowledge from their past life. Anyone know more on this?

July 13, 2015

1 Comment • Newest first

Sezbeth

Unfortunately, Socrates never wrote a single word, but rather had those he tutored (most notably Plato/Aristocles) relay his philosophical beliefs. Essentially, it's not that we're born with all of "knowledge" and somehow lost access to it through the transition as a soul to being born, rather we all have the potential to be able to achieve a prime state of "knowing", which would be extremely rare (according to him through Plato).

Now, take this with a grain of salt, because Plato was often critical of Socrates, so often times he would either halfheartedly relay his philosophical systems or just outright criticize them. So, there is a real possibility that there may be some of Plato's biases instilled in what we know about Socrates' philosophy.

Reply July 13, 2015 - edited