Anamnesis
The answers to our questions are already within us.
Plato was a philosopher during the 5th century BC. He was a student of Socrates and later taught Aristotle. He founded the Platonic?Academy (c. 387 BC), an academic program which many consider to be the first Western university.
In Plato's theory of epistemology, Anamnesis is the recollection of innate knowledge acquired before birth, the claim that learning consists of rediscovering knowledge from within.
To him, learning is a paradox: a person can neither learn what he already knows, nor inquire about what is outside the scope of his knowledge. But what if knowledge was already in our soul from before birth? Thus, Plato develops the theory of Anamnesis in his dialogues Meno, Phaedo, and Phaedrus.
Socrates meanwhile, suggests that the soul could be immortal, and repeatedly incarnated. What one perceives to be learning, then, could be actually the recovery of that latent knowledge acquired from eternity, but lost in the trauma of birth. This process, Socrates refers to as Anamnesis.
Aristotle on the other hand, criticizes Plato’s theory in his philosophical work, Peri Ideōn, on knowledge. In which according to him, knowledge can be acquired by means of experiences in the sensitive world, as knowledge is acquired over time through the experience, something that is not innate.
Sigmund Freud's theory, by extent suggests that human behavior is influenced by unconscious memories, thoughts, and urges. This theory also proposes that the psyche comprises three aspects: the identity, ego, and superego. The identity is entirely unconscious, while the egos operate in the conscious mind.
Therefore, the role of Anamnesis, of recollecting the happenings that have preceded the symptoms, is extremely important for the healing of mind disorders.
What do you think? Was Plato’s theory of Anamnesis one of the pillars of knowledge debate about individual personal development? Did you know about this philosophical theory or is it something new for you? Do you have anything else to add or any suggestions?
Food for thought!