Teaching is a process of awakening that which we already know. Although largely disputed, this theory which was coined by Plato, is completely adequate in today’s world. However, it is commonly disputed because of the changes that have occurred throughout the times since Plato was around, and now. It is merely an error in translation that makes this idea less accepted in the modern day. The words we use, the connections we make; they are all different now from how they were when Plato coined these ideas. Plato’s doctrine of recollection from my understanding of it basically says that humans are born possessing all knowledge. It further says that we must discover it (rather than learn it). Whether or not you agree with Plato about this idea that we all have this knowledge prior to birth, we can agree on one known fact; by the time children reach the age in which they can reason, they are full of ideas within their minds. Some of these ideas may be correct, while others are not. This idea is exemplified in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Think about, for example, our lecture in Professor Davis’s class when he discussed his daughter’s idea of justice. His daughter reached a certain age where she could decide what justice meant to her, and when she could apply it - so she therefore was able to argue that her father was being unjust in not allowing her to do a certain something. If Professor Davis’s daughter’s idea of what is just and what is not was incorrect, she would have to realize that at some point due to this argument. This therefore shows that before enlightenment comes the realization that one’s beliefs do not match reality. Now, seeing that Plato’s allegory of the cave can adequately fit into the modern day world, it will be much easier to understand this idea of preexisting knowledge. Where did that child’s idea of justice come from? How was she able to