page_title: Plato's Problem
section_title: Socrates (470 B.C. – 399 B.C.)
hierarchical_section_title: Plato's Problem / Plato (427 B.C. – 347 B.C.) / Socrates (470 B.C. – 399 B.C.)
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Socrates. Marble, Roman artwork (1st century), perhaps a copy of a lost bronze statue made by Lysippos. Ελληνικά: Σωκράτης Français&#160;: Portrait de Socrate. Marbre, œuvre romaine du Ier siècle, peut-être une copie d'un bronze perdu réalisé par Lysippe.
context_page_description: Plato's Problem is the term given by Noam Chomsky to "the problem of explaining how we can know so much" given our limited experience. Chomsky believes that Plato asked how we should account for the rich, intrinsic, common structure of human cognition, when it seems undetermined by extrinsic evidence presented to a person during human development. In linguistics this is referred to as the "argument from poverty of the stimulus". Such arguments are common in the natural sciences, where a developing theory is always "underdetermined by evidence". Chomsky's approach to Plato's Problem involves treating cognition as a normal research topic in the natural sciences, so cognition can be studied to elucidate intertwined genetic, developmental, and biophysical factors. Plato's Problem is most clearly illustrated in the Meno dialogue, in which Socrates demonstrates that an uneducated boy nevertheless understands geometric principles.
context_section_description: Most of Plato's philosophical ideas were communicated through his beloved teacher Socrates as a presence in the dialogues. Though there are no extant writings of Socrates known, it is evident through Plato's works that Socrates had an incredible ability to explore the most intense analytical discussions. However, for some there is controversy regarding how much historical fact can be derived from Plato's Socrates (Russell). Some doubt Socrates ever existed. Others are skeptical as to the accuracy of some of Plato's dialogues but nonetheless maintain that we can learn a substantial amount of historical information about Socrates from the dialogues. Still others take practically everything Plato wrote about Socrates as veridical history. Regardless, it may be safe to say that Plato never meant to record Socrates verbatim and it may plausibly be concluded that his general ideas were communicated in the dialogues.
caption: Socrates
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