Plato's problem

Noam Chomsky posed Plato's problem.

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 (using modern terms) how we should account for the rich, intrinsic, common structure of human cognition, when it seems underdetermined by extrinsic evidence presented to a person during human development. 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". 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.

Further reading

• Blake, Randolph, and Robert Sekuler. Perception. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006.
• Bruner, J. S., & Kenney, H. J. (1965). Representation and mathematics learning. In L. N. Morrisett and J. Vinsonhaler (Eds.), Mathematical learning. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 30 (Serial No. 99).
• Carnie, Andrew. Syntax. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.
• Cherry, C. (1966). On human communication. (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
• Chomsky, Noam. Modular Approaches to the Study of the Mind. San Diego: San Diego State University Press, 1984.
• Dresher, Elan. Language and Mind Forum. 2000. Ahmanson Foundation. 15 Mar. 2006 <http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/linguistics/langmind.htm#dresher>
• Kemerling, Garth. A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names. 2002. 11 Apr. 2006. <http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/index.htm>
• Mayer, Richard E. Thinking, Problem Solving, Cognition. 2nd ed. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1991.
• McGilvray, James, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Chomsky. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
• Meno:Introduction. 2004. Farlex, Inc. 15 Mar. 2006. <http://plato.thefreelibrary.com/Meno/1-1>
• Moray, N. (1959). Attention in dichotic listening: Affective cues and the influence of instructions. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 11, 56–60.
• Nisbett, R. E., & Ross, L. (1980). Human preferences: Strategies and shortcomings of social judgment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• Plato: (427 B.C. – 347 B.C.). 2004. Farlex, Inc. 15 Mar. 2006. <http://plato.thefreelibrary.com>
• Pojman, Louis P. Classics of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003.
• Russell, Bertrand. The History of Western Philosophy. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1945.
• Solso, Robert L., M. Kimberly MacLin, and Otto H. MacLin. Cognitive Psychology. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2005.
• Tulving, E. (1993). "What is episodic memory?". Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2 (3): 67–70. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.ep10770899. S2CID 142992860.

External links

• Isac, Daniela; Charles Reiss (2008). I-language: An Introduction to Linguistics as Cognitive Science. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-953420-3.