I have written you to describe an important aspect of Plato’s philosophy about the truest form of knowledge. The Phaedo is a dialogue that describes the immorality of the soul as a way to see beyond the errors of the human body and the five senses. The term, “anamnesis”, defines how Socrates argues that the soul cam remember perfect knowledge without the corruption of the body. In Socrates’ dialogue with Phaedo, he describes the term anamnesis as a way to gauge the perfect nature of the soul as a way to discern between true and false knowledge. This approach to understanding “true knowledge” can be realized in three ways: (1) On the perfect nature of the soul, (2) the fallibility of the human senses, (and 3) the ability of the soul to retain perfect truths through reason. These differing approaches to the premise of anamnesis to describe the truth of perfect knowledge that resides in the human soul, which will be examined through this quote by Cebes: “Socrates, as you are fond of saying, that our learning is nothing else than recollection” (Plato 72e). …show more content…
In this way, the soul can “recollect” or remember the perfect wisdom of knowledge because it does not rely on the body or the human senses. For Socrates, it is important to understand that the soul cannot be corrupted by the body, which allows it to recollect the perfect truth of the Forms. Do you see what I mean? Socrates is actually comparing the human soul with the perfect knowledge of the Forms, which never “forgets” what it has learned. This explanation of Cebes’ quote illustrates why Socrates believes that human beings can “recollect” the true knowledge of the soul by overcoming the limitations of the human senses. More so, the soul allows human beings to utilize reason as a way to discover these truths because they posses a