Comparing Plato's Meno And The Republic

I enjoyed reading the passages Meno and the Republic by Greek philosopher Plato. Plato emphasized the divided line between real knowledge and controlled opinion in the Republic. He believed that opinions manipulated mankind because individuals blindly gain opinions from others. I agree that opinion is not of much value and knowledge has great value. Plato theorized that opinions can only be determined by senses, such as, sight and hearing. However, knowledge cannot be limited to the senses, it is beyond them. Beliefs based on opinion are considered the lowest level of cognitive activity, these individuals are only able to experience the visible realm. Plato believed that there were forms that establish reality. These forms are eternal, unchanging, and are absolute realities that could not be questioned. Examples of these forms are goodness, beauty, and sweetness. Objects in the visible world can be perceived incorrectly. For example, an object that is beautiful in the visible world is limited and constantly
In these passages Socrates talks about how the thoughts inside of us are only are minds remembering things that we have already experienced in another lifetime. He theorized that no new information is obtained and that even individuals who are uneducated can recall information from a previous existence. For example, in the reading a farm boy was asked a series of questions to prove this theory. The theory that is being described is that an individual’s soul is immortal. Our souls are constantly being reborn through reincarnation, an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Although our souls are constantly being reborn they still contain all of the information it has obtained throughout time. Even though I felt that Socrates was leading the farm boy to the conclusions he made during this reading, I found the concept of recalling information instead of acquiring new information to be incredibly interesting and thought