The agenda of cognitive science derives from Greek philosophy. In the Meno, a Platonic dialogue, Socrates (469-399 BC), by persistently questioning a slave boy, draws out from him the knowledge of the relationship between the side of a square and the length of the diagonal. According to Plato (427-347 BC) who was a disciple of Socrates, all genuine/ pure forms of knowledge (the Platonic ideals) were implanted into the soul at birth. The task of instruction was to bring this innate knowledge into conscious awareness.
The Meno ``perhaps for the first time in human intellectual history'' ruminated on the nature of knowledge: where does it come from, what does it consist of, how is it represented in the human mind? Plato separated mind from matter and conceived of mind in non-material terms. (Gardner, MNS) He thought of memory as analogous to the impression of a seal on a wax tablet.
Introducing the terms:
Rationalism in the Greek tradition led to reification of the mind and thus perhaps to mind-body dualism. The Indian tradition however appears to have followed dualism with empiricism.