Theaetetus and the Making of a Philosopher: Character and the Nature of Philosophical Discussion in Plato's Theaetetus
Date
2024-12-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Traditional approaches to Plato’s Theaetetus have it that it is only, or at least primarily, about knowledge. Yet large sections of the dialogue, including the so-called “Digression” of 172c-177c, do not appear to be concerned with knowledge at all, but with the nature of the philosopher and the activity the philosopher engages in, i.e. philosophical discussion. I offer a reading of the Theaetetus that proceeds from the assumption that the inclusion of such material suggests that the dialogue is also about philosophy and the philosopher, and I find such concerns in fact present throughout both explicitly and implicitly. On my view, the dialogue is both dramatically and philosophically a portrayal of the philosophical progress of Theaetetus, whose first encounter with philosophical discussion, when Socrates asks him if he can help find what knowledge is, not only demonstrates that he has, but draws out and develops in him, an essentially philosophical character – where to be “philosophical” is much more than to just be adept with arguments or quick to come up answers to philosophical questions, but to be willing to try out answers to such questions without attachment to them, to learn from the shortcomings of previous attempts, and ultimately to have a certain kind of orientation toward the world.
Description
Keywords
Plato, Theaetetus, epistemology, Ancient Greek philosophy
Citation
Kerklaan, N. (2024). Theaetetus and the making of a philosopher: character and the nature of philosophical discussion in Plato’s Theaetetus (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.