Why? Why not an infinite chain of recollectors? — frank
Since the soul has been born into this world many times, and has thus been seeing
the things of this world and the world below, there is nothing it has not learned. No wonder then that it can recollect about aretê and other things, since it knew about these things before; for all nature being akin, and the soul having learned all things; nothing hinders someone, recalling (or, as people call it, learning) one thing only, from discovering all the rest himself, if only he has some courage and does not completely weary of seeking; for the whole of seeking and learning is recollection.
Why do you keep calling anamnesis a myth? — frank
For I have heard from men and women wise in divine
matters…
MENO: Saying what?
SOCRATES: True things, it seems to me, and kalon.
MENO: What was it and who were the speakers?
SOCRATES: Some of the speakers were priests and priestesses, who had studied
how they might give an account of the holy things in their care: Pindar speaks of it also, and many other of the poets are in touch with divine things. What they say is this (consider whether it seems to you that they speak the truth): They declare that the soul of man is immortal, and at one time it has an end, which they call dying, and at another time is born again, but it is never completely destroyed.
I am very disappointed in you. I thought you better than you've shown yourself here.Interesting, isn't it, that folk suppose that because "I am convinced", it follows that "Hence, you ought be convinced". Going both ways. "I am not convinced, hence, you ought not be convinced". — Banno
You apparently believe terms can be understood on their own somehow, completely apart from the context of theories.You're a semantic atomist.
— baker
You're a fool. — Banno
Absolutely. It's peculiar how otherwise intelligent people can turn into morons once the topic is reincarnation/rebirth.It is true that belief in reincarnation is a cultural taboo, One of Stevenson’s many critics said he was a deadly threat to everything Western culture holds dear. — Wayfarer
I don't see how you get more compelling testimonial evidence, it's overwhelming. Do I need to know the mechanism for OBEs in order to know if NDEs are veridical? Do I need to know the mechanism of any experience to know if the experience is real or genuine? Of course not. We have firsthand experiences all the time without knowing the mechanisms involved. — Sam26
Why? Why not an infinite chain of recollectors? — frank
But this is not Socrates argument. See Meno 81c-d: — Fooloso4
Mythos is something told without logos, that is, without providing an account or defense. This is part of Socrates criticism of the poets. They are the mouthpiece of the Muses, reporting what they have heard but being unable to explain it. — Fooloso4
One thing which I have wondered about in thinking about reincarnation memories, is if rather than people remembering specific personal memories, they are tapping into the collective unconscious of memories. However, I am aware that many people on this site find Jung's idea of the collective unconscious as rather unsound. — Jack Cummins
I think looking for evidence of rebirth/reincarnation or that consciousness can operate outside of and independently from the physical body is a dead end (and bound to be a dead end, as long as one insists on being Humpty Dumpty).Well, one thing doesn't necessarily exclude the other. If consciousness can operate outside of and independently from the physical body, then both scenarios are (theoretically) possible. — Apollodorus
You had asserted that the infinite backward chain makes knowledge impossible.
Now you're just noting that Plato says the soul does learn. — frank
This would mean an eternal regress to past lives, there could be no life that was not a recollection from a previous life, so no life in which knowledge of the Forms first gained. — Fooloso4
The problem is that if we start with the premise that knowledge is recollection then there would never be a time when knowledge was learned. But it cannot be recollected if it had not at some time first been learned. — Fooloso4
My gripe was that you're tossing "impossible" around a little too freely. — frank
Anamnesis is not part of the myth of reincarnation passed down by priests. — frank
It's Plato's solution to a problem: that teaching is frequently a matter of bringing a person's awareness to what they already know. — frank
So what I didn't make clear is that this is all me. — frank
So from my point of view, you're continually trying to teach me my own argument and nitpicking at the edges. — frank
Not according to Neil Gaiman. He says step one in creativity is to allow yourself to become bored. — frank
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