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Plato
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Epistemology - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 5 facts
claimThe term 'epistemology' can refer to the specific philosophical positions held by individual philosophers, such as Plato's epistemology or Immanuel Kant's epistemology.
accountPlato used the example of a slave boy who could answer geometry questions despite never having studied geometry to argue for his epistemological points.
claimPlato proposed that knowledge is more valuable than a mere true opinion because knowledge is more stable.
claimPlato (427–347 BCE) examined the nature of knowledge in ancient Greek philosophy, distinguishing it from true opinion by asserting that knowledge is based on good reasons.
claimPlato proposed that learning is a form of recollection in which the soul remembers what it already knew but had forgotten.
Rationalism Vs. Empiricism 101: Which One is Right? - TheCollector thecollector.com Nov 9, 2023 5 facts
claimPlato is considered the founder of ancient rationalism because he developed a comprehensive system of rationalism that addressed the sources, objects, criteria, possibilities, and scope of knowledge.
claimRationalists, including Plato, Descartes, and Leibniz, base their theories on the origin of knowledge on the absolutization of the intellect and principles inherent in reason or the soul.
claimPlato established the Western rationalist theory of the origin of knowledge through his theory of anamnesis, which posits the existence of innate ideas and principles of reason.
claimPlato established a rationalist-founded objective idealism, which served as the framework for his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.
claimPlato argued that the source of knowledge is the soul's 'remembering' of its original residence in the 'kingdom of ideas,' where the power of reason is the ability to recall and recognize these ideas as general and necessary truths.
Panpsychism - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 5 facts
referencePlato discusses the soul of the world in his work 'Timaeus', written in the fourth century BCE.
claimIn the dialogue 'Sophist', Plato argues for panpsychism by asserting that all things participate in the form of Being and must therefore possess a psychic aspect of mind and soul (psyche).
claimPlato argues for the existence of a world soul, or anima mundi, in his dialogues 'Philebus' and 'Timaeus'.
claimPanpsychism is one of the oldest philosophical theories and has been historically ascribed to philosophers including Thales, Plato, Spinoza, Leibniz, Schopenhauer, William James, Alfred North Whitehead, and Bertrand Russell.
quotePlato wrote: 'This world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence ... a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related.'
Sources of Knowledge: Rationalism, Empiricism, and the Kantian ... press.rebus.community 4 facts
accountIn the dialogue Meno, Plato demonstrates how innate ideas can be realized through reason.
claimPlato's 'doctrine of recollection' posits that innate ideas are like forgotten memories that humans possess prior to birth as unembodied souls, which can be accessed through reason even if one is not consciously aware of them.
claimPlato argues that the slave boy in the dialogue Meno did not learn new information, but rather recollected knowledge he possessed prior to birth as an unembodied soul.
claimPlato (ca. 428–347 BCE) is considered a predecessor of rationalism.
Dualism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Winter 2016 Edition) plato.stanford.edu Aug 19, 2003 4 facts
claimPlato authored 'Phaedo', included in 'Plato: Complete Works' edited by J. Cooper and published by Hackett.
claimPlato argued in the Phaedo that the intellect is immaterial because it must have an affinity with the immaterial Forms it apprehends, and this affinity drives the soul to strive to leave the body and dwell in the realm of Forms.
referencePlato's philosophy, as presented in the Phaedo, posits that true substances are not physical bodies, which are ephemeral, but eternal Forms that serve as the grounds of intelligibility and universals.
claimA significant problem with Plato's dualism is the lack of a clear explanation for what binds a specific soul to a specific body, making their union a mystery.
Virtue Epistemology - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu Jul 9, 1999 3 facts
claimConventional virtue epistemologists recognize that 'alternative' questions and methods, such as consulting literature, scientific inquiry, and scripture, are historically rooted in philosophy, as seen in the works of Plato, Aristotle, and the Islamic philosophical tradition.
claimThe question of why knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief, especially when true belief is sufficient for guiding action, is known as 'the value problem' and dates back to Plato's Meno.
claimVirtue epistemology practitioners draw inspiration from historical philosophers including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Descartes.
Epistemology - Belief, Justification, Rationality | Britannica britannica.com Mar 13, 2026 3 facts
claimPlato argued that because visual inspection of physical objects (such as two pieces of wood) reveals imperfections and disparities, sense experience cannot be the source of abstract concepts like equality.
claimPlato's Republic contains one of the earliest systematic arguments asserting that sense experience cannot be a source of knowledge.
claimPlato concluded in the Meno that knowledge of abstract concepts is recollected by the soul from an earlier existence.
Social Epistemology - Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science oecs.mit.edu Jul 24, 2024 2 facts
referenceIn Plato's Meno, a thought experiment involving a travel guide raises the question of whether a guide must possess actual knowledge to be reliable, or if merely having a true belief is sufficient for reliability (Cooper, 1997).
claimPlato recognized in the Meno that knowledge is deeply connected to belief.
Social Epistemology – Introduction to Philosophy - Rebus Press press.rebus.community 2 facts
Epistemic Justification – Introduction to Philosophy: Epistemology press.rebus.community 2 facts
Virtue epistemology - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 2 facts
claimIn Plato's Meno, Socrates argues that justified true belief fails to 'stay in their place' and must be 'tethered' to be considered knowledge.
claimThe philosophical definition of knowledge as 'justified true belief' is based on the distinction between 'true belief' and 'knowledge' found in Plato's Socratic dialogue, Meno.
Panpsychism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2015 Edition) plato.stanford.edu May 23, 2001 1 fact
referenceSkrbina (2005) identified panpsychist remarks in the works of Plato and Aristotle.
Complexity and the Evolution of Consciousness | Biological Theory link.springer.com Sep 14, 2022 1 fact
referencePearson, Watson, and Platt (2014) discuss the neuroethological approach to decision-making.
Virtue Epistemology, Anyone? - The Philosophers' Magazine - philosophersmag.com 1 fact
claimVirtue epistemology has a philosophical pedigree that includes Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, and Bertrand Russell.
Panpsychism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu May 23, 2001 1 fact
claimDavid Skrbina found several panpsychist remarks in the works of Plato and fewer in the works of Aristotle.
Critique of Panpsychism: Philosophical Coherence and Scientific ... thequran.love May 7, 2025 1 fact
referenceIn the work Timaeus, Plato describes the world as a single living being possessing a soul.
Epistemology | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu 1 fact
referencePlato presents and defends a version of the JTB (Justified True Belief) analysis of knowledge in his works 'Meno' and 'Theaetetus'.
Mind and Consciousness - St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology saet.ac.uk Jun 20, 2024 1 fact
claimThe term 'dualism' was first introduced in the nineteenth century to describe Zoroastrianism, meaning that historical figures such as Plato, Augustine, and Descartes did not describe themselves as 'dualists'.
Global workspace theory - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
quoteIn a discussion with Susan Blackmore in her book 'Conversations on Consciousness', Bernard Baars stated: "From my point of view, the metaphor that is useful for understanding consciousness is the theatre metaphor, which also happens to be quite ancient, going back at least to Plato in the West, and to the Vedanta scriptures in the East. The theatre metaphor, in a simple way, says that what's conscious is like the bright spot cast by a spotlight on to the stage of a theatre. What's unconscious is everything else: all the people sitting in the audience are unconscious components of the brain which get information from consciousness; and there are people sitting behind the scenes, the director and the playwright and so on, who are shaping the contents of consciousness, telling the actor in the light spot what to say."
Not Minds, but Signs: Reframing LLMs through Semiotics - arXiv arxiv.org Jul 1, 2025 1 fact
claimLarge Language Models (LLMs) synthesize disparate semiotic resources when tasked with creative prompts, such as composing a Shakespearean soliloquy in the voice of a climate activist or narrating Plato’s Allegory of the Cave as a horror short story.