What was Plato's understanding of human reasoning?!

[Lonyo]

On what grounds might Plato?s understanding of human reasoning be criticised?

That's the question I've been set for homework

What was Plato's understanding of human reasoning?!? Anyone get any hints? Are we talking human reasoning was due to the forms and our ideas of good/justice etc? Or was it to do with logic/sciences/mathematics and using those to reason? Or am I totally on the wrong track?

Please help

Man, I hate school.

 

[isaacmacdonald]

that's a strange question. Plato (or perhaps socrates) didn't really sit back and delve into long narratives about the nature of human reasoning. From what I recall he seemed much more inclined to assume that reasoning was man's only real way to percieve the objective truth. This premise seems to be sustained in all of his work. The senses distract from pure reason and cloud our perception of "the noble truths".

 

[Lonyo]

That could be helpful, as a criticism would be that the senses percieve the real world and there is no noble truth (Forms), and in fact we he sees as clouding our reason actually informs it.

 

[isaacmacdonald]

indeed. If you were going to approach it on that front, much of the criticism leveled at descartes (cogito ergo sum) could be applied equally to plato. the preeminence of reason is suspect, and is really the achille's heal of plato's argument for the existence of the noble forms/truths. Toppling plato's preeminence of reason is bringing down the whole house of cards.