Theaetetus is an example of Socratic dialogue, which shows Socrates and Theaetetus discussing the 3 definitions of knowledge; knowledge is perception, knowledge is true judgment, and, finally, knowledge is true judgment accompanied by an “account”. In the end, no definitive definition was given and the main conclusion was to show us what knowledge is not. By knowing what is not knowledge, Plato can make the connection between the problem of knowledge to forms. Socrates, through the process of question-and-answer exchanges, is able to show Theaetetus that every attempt to arrive at the definition of knowledge is flawed.
Theaetetus first attempt in defining knowledge states that knowledge is perception by asserting, “a man who knows something perceives what he knows, and the way it appears at present, at any rate, is that knowledge is simply perception (Plato, Theaetetus, 151D).” However, this definition is contradicted with the “cold wind” argument. Protagoras states, “it is cold for the one who feels cold, and for the other not cold (Plato, Theaetetus, 152B).” The argument is how the wind itself is cold and the wind itself is not cold, but warm and that both warm and cold are two properties that cannot exist is the same object. If one of the arguments were true then we would have the basis to validate or invalidate both statements. This allows us to revisit perception instead of the whole, into what perception means to the individual. It also allows us to see that an object cannot have a quantitative quality because of the altering …show more content…
This conflicts with his prior statement that knowledge is perceptions because it introduces an aspect of a human error, for example, what I see from a color might not have the same forms of what another individual may
Theaetetus first attempt in defining knowledge states that knowledge is perception by asserting, “a man who knows something perceives what he knows, and the way it appears at present, at any rate, is that knowledge is simply perception (Plato, Theaetetus, 151D).” However, this definition is contradicted with the “cold wind” argument. Protagoras states, “it is cold for the one who feels cold, and for the other not cold (Plato, Theaetetus, 152B).” The argument is how the wind itself is cold and the wind itself is not cold, but warm and that both warm and cold are two properties that cannot exist is the same object. If one of the arguments were true then we would have the basis to validate or invalidate both statements. This allows us to revisit perception instead of the whole, into what perception means to the individual. It also allows us to see that an object cannot have a quantitative quality because of the altering …show more content…
This conflicts with his prior statement that knowledge is perceptions because it introduces an aspect of a human error, for example, what I see from a color might not have the same forms of what another individual may