The work of Plato, in the name of Socrates, had been immensely influential in Western civilization. Unlike most philosophers, Plato  expressed the philosophy of Socrates in the form of dialogues. Phaedo is a dialogue that recounts the death of Socrates. The teacher of Plato, Socrates,was the main character in Plato’s dialogues. He was a philosopher who traveld the city of Athens and investigating philosophical ideas and people’s beliefs about them. For instance, he would talk to powerful politicians and young people alike about the nature of justice or goodness or beauty. The structure followed by the dialogues was that people would answer thoughtful questions, Socrates would ask them to clarify their positions, and as the discourse proceeded, it would become clear that people had opinions that were inconsistent and illogical. (Plato & Gallop, 2019).

While Socrates always claimed not to know the answers, and was very humble, it was clear by the end of each dialogue that no one else knew the answers either and that Socrates, who rarely claimed knowledge, had the best arguments. Socrates was a real person, and Plato’s dialogues are one of the few sources of information about his life, personality, and beliefs. What we know is that he was tried by the city-state of Athens, found guilty, and executed for his philosophical activity (Plato & Gallop, 2019).

Phaedo recounts the last day of Socrates’s life, specifically a conversation in which Socrates explains to his friends why, as a philosopher, he is not afraid to die. In one section, Socrates discusses the nature of knowledge. Socrates argues that in ‘learning’ , we are reminded of something we learned before we were born. That is, for Socrates, learning is not a matter of information or data being impressed on a blank mind, but rather the knowledge already lies dormant within the person, waiting to be activated. So, learning something is remembering what we once knew (before birth) but forgot. This argument (that knowledge is recollection) fits into the larger dialogue (Plato & Gallop, 2019).

In his book The Blank Slate, Stephen Pinker argues that “every society must operate with a theory of human nature” and that “our intellectual mainstream is committed” to the notion of the blank slate. (Pinker, 2002; TED, n.d.). How and why has this preference for the blank slate come about and what social and political factors are involved in its continuing promotion?

• In Phaedo, Plato gives an early argument against the conception of the human mind as a blank slate. He argues that when we learn something, we are recollecting the knowledge we gained before we were born (Plato & Gallop, 2019).
• In contrast, John Locke (1788) takes the position that the human mind is a blank slate (tabula rasa) and that we gain all knowledge through sense experience.

Compare and evaluate these two positions by first clearly stating the essential points of each philosopher’s position, and then explaining which theory you find more compelling. Support your evaluation with reason, logic, and evidence.

How and why has this preference for the blank slate come about, and what social and political factors are involved in its continuing promotion? Has that position recently been changed by findings in neuroscience?

Please post a response, and remember to respond to two other people’s postings.

Please Note: Each discussion response must have a minimum of 125 words, be spell-checked, be well written, and cite references in support of arguments.