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, Noam: Knowledge of Language, 1986, p. xxv Chomsky believes that Plato asked (using modern terms) 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.Noam Chomsky interview: Journal of Advanced Composition, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1991 In linguistics this is referred to as the "argument from poverty of the stimulus" (APS). Such arguments are common in the natural sciences, where a developing theory is always "underdetermined by evidence".Hornstein, Norbert -- Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London, 1998 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.Chomsky, Noam, 2004: Biolinguistics and the Human Capacity Plato's Problem is most clearly illustrated in the Meno dialogue, in which Socrates demonstrates that an uneducated boy nevertheless understands geometric principles. Introduction  What is knowledge? What is experience? How do they interact? Is there a correlational, causal, or reciprocal relationship between knowledge and experience? These and other related questions have been at the forefront of investigation by problem solvers, scientists, psychologists, and philosophers for centuries. These questions, but particularly the problem of how experience and knowledge interrelate, have broad theoretical and practical implications for such academic disciplines as epistemology, linguistics, and psychology (specifically the subdiscipline of thinking and problem solving). Gaining a more precise understanding of human knowledge, whether defined as innate, experiential, or both, is an important part of effective problem solving.
Plato's Problem i ven by Noam Chomsky to "the problem of explaining how we can know so much" given our limited experience.Chomsky, Noam: Knowledge of Language, 1986, p. xxv Chomsky believes that Plato asked (using modern terms) 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.Noam Chomsky interview: Journal of Advanced Composition, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1991 In linguistics this is referred to as the "argument from poverty of the stimulus" (APS). Such arguments are common in the natural sciences, where a developing theory is always "underdetermined by evidence".Hornstein, Norbert -- Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London, 1998 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.Chomsky, Noam, 2004: Biolinguistics and the Human Capacity Plato's Problem is illustrated in the Meno dialogue, in which Socrates demonstrates that an uneducated boy understands geometric principles. Introduction _/(' ~ ')\_ What is knowledge? What is experience? How do they interact? Is there a correlational, causal, or reciprocal relationship between knowledge and experience? These and other related questions have been at the forefront of investigation by problem solvers, scientists, psychologists, and philosophers for centuries. These questions, but particularly the problem of how experience and knowledge interrelate, have broad theoretical and practical implications for such academic disciplines as epistemology, linguistics, and psychology (specifically the subdiscipline of thinking and problem solving). Gaining a more precise understanding of human knowledge, whether defined as innate, experiential, or both, is an important part of effective problem solving.
R
is the term given
i ven
D
most clearly
D
nevertheless
A
_/(' ~ ')\_