Platos Epistemological Position - Essay Example

Plato’s Epistemological Position Introduction It is difficult to distinguish adequate knowledge from inadequate knowledge. This has made several philosophers to formulate theories that try to solve this issue. One of the philosophers that tried to explain what distinguishes adequate knowledge and inadequate knowledge was Plato. According to Soccio (126), this philosopher believed that he could identify and articulate the difference between opinion and genuine knowledge by developing a theory of knowledge. The theory of knowledge developed by Plato states that all knowledge is innate and could be attained through searching of one’s inner experience (Hergenhahn 48). This theory is actually very crucial in explaining Plato’s epistemological position. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that explains knowledge. This branch of philosophy seeks an explanation of the characteristics that can be used to distinguish the knowledge that is adequate and the one that is inadequate. Epistemological positions are views of philosophers about the issue of what constitutes adequate and inadequate knowledge. Rationalism is one of the epistemological positions that dominate philosophy. According to Heylighen (par. 3), rationalism is viewing knowledge as a product of rational reflection. The rational reflection is a product of personal innate experience that an individual develops over time. Plato’s general rationalism is the basis of Plato’s epistemological position. According to this rationalism, knowledge is an awareness of absolute, universal ideas or forms that exist independent of subject (Heylighen par. 2). This rationalism identifies what could be philosophically regarded as knowledge according to Plato. The thesis of this paper is that this methodology used by Plato was successful in identifying what could be regarded as knowledge regardless of subjects. This thesis is explained and evaluated in the remaining part of the paper. Plato’s rationalism Plato views knowledge from an angle different from other philosophers. According to Scaltsas (1), Plato views knowledge as a mental power that is very different from other mental powers like opinion, sight, and hearing. This is because of its unique ability to influence other mental powers. It is knowledge that enhances interpretation of information acquired through hearing and seeing. This shows that knowledge is a much stronger mental power compared to these other mental powers. Moreover, Plato in his theory of knowledge draws a distinction between things and form. He perceives things as aspects of reality perceived through senses and forms as the realm of perfect concepts that is grasped by the reason (Russo 3). These two views try to establish how different knowledge is developed and sustained in individuals. Features of the theory The theory of knowledge developed by Plato has several features. One of the most conspicuous features of this theory is that it explains and reveals the importance of knowledge. It does this by identifying knowledge as a mental power. It then compares it with other mental powers like opinion, sight, and hearing. Comparing knowledge with other mental powers assists in identifying the relative importance of knowledge. However, mental powers are many in numbers. This makes it impossible to compare knowledge with all the other mental powers. Therefore, this theory compares knowledge with only three most conspicuous mental powers that are opinion, sight, and hearing. Knowledge is attained in various different ways. Some ways of developing knowledge have been philosophically proven to develop knowledge while others have not. Moreover, some ways of developing knowledge have stepwise procedures while others are a single staged process. Another conspicuous feature of the theory of knowledge developed by Plato is that it tries to identify the different ways in which adequate knowledge is developed and attained. This is because it states that knowledge is attained through inner searching of one’s inner experience (Hergenhahn 48). However, this is not the only way that knowledge can be developed or attained. Knowledge could be categorized using different ways. There is natural knowledge and acquired knowledge. Moreover, there is knowledge of things and knowledge of forms. These types of knowledge are developed and attained in different ways. Plato’s theory of knowledge identifies a common feature that could be found in any form of knowledge. According to Hergenhahn (48), this feature is that knowledge is innate regardless of the subject in which it is encompassed and its nature. The identification of the common feature of knowledge forms the basis for discussion of knowledge acquisition by the theory. The argument of the theory According to Watson and Arp (43), a cogent argument is one that has both a deductive domain and an inductive domain. One of the arguments of this theory explains the general nature of any form of knowledge. This argument states that knowledge is innate regardless of the subject. The argument try to induce what could be regarded as adequate knowledge thus it forms an inductive domain base of the theory’s general argument. The other argument of the theory explains the general rule for attaining knowledge. This argument argues that knowledge could be attained through searching ones inner experience. The argument is deductive since it tries to deduce a way of attaining adequate knowledge. Since the theory has an argument that has both a deductive and inductive domain, then it rests on a cogent argument. A sound argument is one that could be taken to be true beyond any doubt. Sometimes it is difficult to attain this kind of an argument. The argument in Plato’s theory of knowledge has two domains. The argument of knowledge being innate thus originating from within a person could be proven to be true. However, some doubts exists since some philosophers view that majority of knowledge is learned from other individuals. Moreover, the argument domain of knowledge being attained through searching inner experience has a high degree of truthfulness. However, other ways of attaining knowledge exists that are not argued by the theory. Therefore, to some extent, this theory does not rest on a sound argument. Strengths and weaknesses of the theory The strength of a theory is measured in terms of its argument, content, and ability to achieve the goals that made it to be developed. One of the most conspicuous strength of Plato’s theory of knowledge is that it has a high degree of accuracy when it comes to explaining what makes up genuine knowledge. The theory clearly distinguishes knowledge from other mental powers like opinions. Moreover, the theory has clear argument that is both inductive and deductive. This helps it to clarify issues related to how adequate knowledge could be attained and how that knowledge could be distinguished from the inadequate knowledge. Another conspicuous strength of this theory is that it does not have any contradictory statements or arguments. This makes the theory easy to understand and apply when seeking to understand what constitutes knowledge. However, the theory also has some weaknesses. The major weakness of this theory is that its arguments are not sound since they could be doubted. This makes people especially philosophers not to depend on it when explaining how knowledge could be developed. The theory also proves the previous theories of knowledge to be wrong (Heylighen par. 4). This makes it to adapt a path different from the other theories when it comes to explaining issues related with knowledge. Another major weakness of this theory is that it cannot be used together with its previous theories of knowledge to explain how knowledge is acquired. This is because of the different path it takes when explaining knowledge acquisition. Summary and conclusion Plato’s epistemological position is based on Plato’s rationalism. This rationalism views knowledge as ideas or forms that exist independent of subjects. Plato’s theory of knowledge was developed by Plato to represent this position. This theory tries to distinguish genuine knowledge from mere opinions. The theory has several features like a comparison of knowledge with other mental powers, attempt to identify ways in which knowledge is attained, and an identification of a common feature that could be used to identify knowledge. Moreover, the theory has several strengths like high degree of accuracy, clear arguments, and has no contradictory statements. It is also based on cogent arguments. However, its argument base is not sound and has a weakness of the inability to be supplemented with other previous theories of knowledge. Plato’s theory is insufficient in terms of explaining issues related with what constitutes genuine knowledge and how the knowledge is attained. This is because it has weaknesses in addition to its strength. Plato’s rationalism is based on this theory. As a result, the rationalism is also insufficient in determining how knowledge could be distinguished from mere opinion and how it could be attained. This makes Plato’s epistemological position to be unsuccessful in determining what could be regarded as genuine knowledge. It is therefore advisable for a philosopher to apply epistemological positions that were developed later by other philosophers instead of using Plato’s epistemological position. References Hergenhahn, B. R. An Introduction to History of Psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning Ltd, 2008. Print. Heylighen, Francis. Epistemology, Introduction. Brussels: Principia Cybernetica, 1993. < http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/EPISTEMI.html >. Russo, Michael. Plato in a Nutshell: A Beginner’s Guide to the Philosophy of Plato. London: Sophia Project Philosophy Archives, 2001. < http://sophiaomni.org/philosophy_archive/russo_plato1.pdf >. Scaltsas, Theodore. The Ontology of Knowledge and Belief in Republic V. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002. Print. Soccio, Douglas. Archtype of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning Ltd, 2009. Print. Watson, Carlin, Jamie, and Arp, Robert. Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011. Print. Read More