FREE ESSAY ON TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SOUL: PLATO'S THEORY OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE

TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SOUL: PLATO'S THEORY OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE

Plato contended that all true knowledge is recollection. He stated that we all have innate
knowledge that tells us about the things we experience in our world. This knowledge,
Plato believed, was gained when the soul resided in the invisible realm, the realm of The
Forms and The Good.
Plato's theory of The Forms argued that everything in the natural world is representative
of the ideal of that form. For example, a table is representative of the ideal form
Table. The form is the perfect ideal on which the physical table is modeled. These forms
do not exist in the natural world, as they are perfect, and there is nothing perfect in
the natural world. Rather the forms exist in the invisible realm, the realm of The Good.
When the soul resided in the invisible realm, it experienced these perfect forms and
retained that knowledge. However, when the soul is born into the natural world, it
forgets that knowledge. In this world, the soul has no experience of perfection, and,
therefore, cannot remember the forms. Yet, when the soul is confronted with something
resembling the forms, it recollects what it once knew. We call this learning, but Plato
believed it is actually recollection.
For example, when we see two sticks that are the same length, we say that they are equal.
Yet, there is nothing in the natural world that shows us true equality. Therefore, we
must have had knowledge of the idea of equality before we entered this world. When we see
the two sticks of the same length, it triggers the recollection of the idea of equality.

Hence, Plato argues that our soul, before it entered this world, had knowledge of the
form of equality when it was a part of the invisible realm. Upon entering this world,
this knowledge was forgotten and had to be recollected. Thus, all knowledge of the forms,
such as equality, justice, etc. is recollected.
However, in proving that what we call learning is actually recollection, Plato also
proved that the soul is immortal. As was stated, there is no example of true perfection
in our world. Yet, we can imagine the idea of perfection. Where could this idea come from
if we have not experienced it in our world? We must have experienced it at some point if
the idea is within us.
Thus, Plato argued that the soul must have existed outside of the natural world. In order
for this to be so, it must be immortal, living before it came into this world. It only
stands to reason, Plato contended, that it must continue to exist after it leaves this
world. How else would it have been in existence before it came into this world? Plato
believed that it was a rational assumption that our soul must continue to exist even
after our death. 
Whether Plato believed that the soul migrates from one lifetime to another, one body to
another, some would say is unclear. However, I believe that the idea of recollection
leans heavily on the assumption that the soul is residing within the invisible realm
before it comes into existence in the physical realm.
If the soul migrates from one body to another at one person's death and another's birth,
then we would still have no explanation for the soul's knowledge of the forms. For
wouldn't the previous life have been spent in the natural world, just as this life is? As
has already been argued, there is nothing perfect in this world and, therefore, no way of
discerning the true forms. Thus, if the soul resided in this physical world in its
previous life, where would it have gained knowledge of the forms?
Therefore, I believe that Plato's intention was that the soul resides within the
invisible realm until its birth into the natural world. It is while it resides within
this realm and experiences the perfection of the forms and The Good, that it gains true
knowledge. This true knowledge is remembered when the soul experiences, within the
natural world, something resembling the ideal forms.
It follows, therefore, that when the soul leaves the body at death, it must return to the
invisible realm, the realm of the Forms and The Good. Plato argued that this was the
desire of every soul, to regain knowledge of the perfect realm and to be reunited with
The Good. 
Therefore, in arguing his theory of recollection, Plato proved that there is no true
learning in this world; there is merely recollection of the knowledge the soul had
previous to this life. He also proved that the soul is immortal, in that it must have
existed before this life in order to have knowledge of the forms. Finally, Plato showed
that the soul does not permanently reside within one body and die when that body dies. It
must exist separate from that body and continue to exist after that body's death. Taken
together, these three points make up Plato's theory on the transmigration of the soul. 
Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Plato. Phaedo. Plato: The Last Days of Socrates. Translated by Hugh Tredennick and Harold
Tarrant, 108-191. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1993.
Plato. Republic. Translated by G.M.A. Grube, revised by C.D.C. Reeve.
Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1992.