PHIL 904 Plato's Theory of Recollection: the Meno, the Phaedo, and the Phaedrus
This course is an exploration of Plato's understanding of recollection as developed in three of his dialogues, the Meno, the Phaedo, and the Phaedrus. Special attention is paid to examining the similarities and the differences between the ways in which this theory is introduced in the three contexts and the relationship between recollection and the dialectical methods of elenchus, the method of hypothesis, and collection and division, employed in the dialogues. We are going to adopt a holistic approach, combining interest in the ethical, epistemological, and metaphysical questions arising at every step.