The Shortfall of Sticks and Stones

August 14, 2021 by Essay Writer

If an individual is reminded of anything at any time he or she must have known that thing before (Apolloni, 32). Recollection therefore can be defined as knowledge that is gained through this manner whereby when an individual sees one thing, he or she becomes very conscious and also something else too (Gallop, 207). Socrates discussed his ways of life, philosophy as well as the fate of his soul the day before his death.

Practice of death is said to be philosophy. Its philosophy that separates the soul from the body, also from the world of sense as well as changes and then converts it to the eternal truth (Matthen, 282). Despite this, philosophers do not need to take away their own lives since in such circumstances, our lives no longer belongs to us, since we remain to be only possessors of the gods (Nehamas, 171).

The sheep that was send to Delos that delayed execution of the Socrates had been in the honor of the Theseus’ who had slain the Minotaur and then escaped the labyrinth (Apolloni, 32). By doing this Theseus was able to save around seven boys as well as seven maidens which made up to fourteen lives being saved. The people’s fear of death is compared to the fear of a monster (Matthen, 282). The image is also seen when he compares himself together with Phaedo to the Hercules as well as the Iolaus to vanquish the Hydra (Gallop, 208).

It’s then revealed that Socrates had been composing poetry as well as songs while still in the prison. Was a hymn that was composed to Apollo as well as one Aesop’s fables to verse? Fables by Aesop were completely false but they were majorly made to convey moral truths to the entire society (Gallop, 208). Socrates practicing of music together with other references to the music throughout the dialogue.

All learning is recollection. An individual cannot be reminded of one thing through making an individual to be more conscious about another (Nehamas, 172). This means that forgetting an activity can be reversed by occurrence of a very conscious activity. Death exited before birth but we are reminded of death after birth. If it were not for death then birth would not be treated as a conscious activity. When an individual sees a cloth that belongs to a beloved one, one will immediately think of an individual that puts on the cloth but not the cloth itself.

The theory of form argues that there is such a thing that it as equality itself (Apolloni, 32). This is something that is independent of any other given case of equality which may include equal sticks or equal stones (Gallop, 209). Forms of equality comes to our minds any time we see equal objects. Seeing equal objects triggers our minds to thinking about the forms of equality. Despite this, two objects may look equal from one point of view and unequal from another (Matthen, 282). This means that stones that may look equal at one point may also look unequal from a different dimension of view but this should not prove equality to be unequal (Matthen, 282). Everyone knows that are not perfectly equal since hey fall short of being equal but we need to understand the principle of equality before arguing that two objects are not equal. We need to know the forms of equality in order to be able to conclude that two objects are not equal.

People gets to understand the equal sticks and stone through their senses and it’s also their similar senses that deficiency with view of truth (Apolloni, 32). Instances of perfect equality does not exist in the sensible world but we human beings we have had the notion of the perfect world since when we became alive. By the Socrates argument, we cannot have learned about equality through our own senses but we obtained our knowledge about it long before birth (Gallop, 209). If this then is true, then all other forms of equality should be treated to be true too. In really sense, it should seem as if we had lost this knowledge concerning these senses at birth and then it is through learning that we then come to recollect them back and then understand them again (Gallop, 209). This is the reason behind Socrates argument that learning is recollection.

There still exists an alternative explanation of the same issue. An individual who truly understands a given subject should then clearly explain it to others but despite this, many people cannot explain things that Socrates has been explaining to them (Apolloni, 32). If now they are unable to explain these things, but they can easily be brought to recollect them, then they must have acquired the knowledge about them in the past life experience but unfortunately or fortunately they forgot it during the moment of birth. This is how recollection occurs.

Both Simmias as well as Cebes agree with Socrates’s argument that soul existed even before birth, they are yet to agree that the same soul coheres immediately after birth (Nehamas, 171). Socrates claims that this has already been proved true through comparison of theory of recollection with the arguments from opposite views. The theory of recollection argue that soul used to exist even before birth but the argument on the opposite view argue that it must have arose from out of death (Apolloni, 32). Having in their minds that the soul has to be re-born every time it passes away, Simmias as well as Cebes are forced to acknowledge that it has to continue to exist even after death.

Socrates is very precise in hi argument about the theory of recollection. What is talking about is an issue that an individual is an able to appreciate in really world but it is only in imagination as well as philosophical world that this can be seen to make some sense. We have had this knowledge in our minds since before we were born but we could not recollect it or rather. Occurrence of a very conscious activity forces us to recollect it as soon as possible. For instance, equality of two objects cannot be brought into existence by questioning but by occurrence of something very sensitive. According to Plato, it seems that we have two intrinsic knowledge of these forms which is the reason that we need to recollect in order to bring them back into our minds. On the side, this knowledge may remain some-how unconscious till through recollection that it is brought back into existence.  People with conscious knowledge of something that happened are able to give an account of it to others.

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