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The Meno’s Doctrine of Innate Knowledge

The Meno’s Doctrine of Innate Knowledge. In its most basic form, learning is perceptual classification Perceptual classification involves judging or believing that an observed object, x , falls within the class, category, type, kind or species, F e.g. This is a dog !

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The Meno’s Doctrine of Innate Knowledge

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  1. The Meno’s Doctrine of Innate Knowledge • In its most basic form, learning is perceptual classification • Perceptual classification involves judging or believing that an observed object, x, falls within the class, category, type, kind or species, F • e.g. Thisis a dog! • e.g. Thatis a cat!

  2. To classify x as F, one must first know what an F is • e.g. to classify something as a dog or cat, one must first know what a dog or cat is • To know what an F is (the Form of F), one must have knowledge of what is Universal and Essential to being an F. • e.g. knowing what a dog or cat is requires knowing what is characteristic of and necessarily common to all dogs or cats • Knowledge of what is Universal and Essential requires knowledge of objectively true definitions that represent Forms

  3. Perception is limited to observation of particular physical objects at particular times in particular places • E.g. a particular dog, Fido, now here • E.g. particular cat, Felix, now there • So, perception cannot convey what is universal or essential • Perception is of or about physicalindividual objects • Perception is not of or about definitions or forms • So, perception (alone) cannot represent what is universal and necessary

  4. Hence, one cannot learn through perception alone the definitions of forms that are prerequisites for classifying observed objects • If prior to any perceptual experience you already know the definition or form of being a dog or being a cat, then • you might subsequently perceive a particular thing as a dog or as a cat • But without this prior innate knowledge of the forms you cannot learn anything in perception about particular objects. • Thus, learning through perceptual experience presupposes prior innate knowledge that does not itself depend upon perceptual experience. • Hence, a posterior knowledge presupposes innate a prior knowledge

  5. Platonic Nativism: Recognition is Re-cognition • To learn that observed Fido is a dog, you must recognize Fido as a dog • All recognition is really pattern matching • Fido looks like a dog! • Pattern matching presupposes prior innate knowledge of basic patterns • Basic Patterns are Forms • Hence, learning presupposes innate knowledge of Forms • Hence, all recognition is really recollection or reminiscence of forms • Hence, recognition is really re-cognition

  6. The Slave Boy • Just an example of innate knowledge • By initial hypothesis: the slave boy has not previously learned any geometry • Yet, he marvelously states a difficult theorem of geometry known to only those well informed about geometry • Notice that Socrates only asks (leading) questions • Does the example demonstrate that the boy’s marvelous ability to recognize a theorem of geometry must be the result of his innate knowledge of geometry, i.e. the forms?

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