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Knowledge and Self-knowledge in Plato's Theaetetus

Knowledge and Self-knowledge in Plato's Theaetetus

by Andrea Tschemplik (Author)

  • New

    Hardcover 2008

    $104.43
Synopsis

Knowledge and Self-Knowledge in Plato's Theaetetus examines the dialogue in conversation with others, arriving at the conclusion that it is the absence of self-knowledge in the Theaetetus which leads to its closing impasse regarding knowledge. What Socrates accomplishes in the dialogue is to lead the mathematician Theaetetus to the recognition of his ignorance-the first step toward self-knowledge.

$104.43

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 194
 Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 22 Aug 2008
ISBN 10: 0739125737
ISBN 13: 9780739125731

Media Reviews
A striking study of crucial themes in Plato's thought. Erudite, insightful, and imaginative. -- Steven M. Cahn
Tschemplik's monograph emphasizes aspects of the Theaetetus that are often overlooked (e.g., knowledge of ignorance) and aspects of dialogue construction that are not widely understood (e.g., their dramatic and literary frames). She has an answer to the rarely discussed but valid question of why it takes Socrates so long to give a refutation of Theaetetus' second account of knowledge, when that refutation could have been given in the first place. This is a welcome contribution to the new Platonic scholarship that seeks to understand the dialogues holistically, with equal sensitivity to the arguments and to their literary and dramatic nuances. The volume is important reading for students of the Theaetetus and of Plato generally. -- Gerald A. Press, Hunter College; CUNY Graduate Center
The book's angle is to take a work best known for its analyses of knowledge, observe its aporetic conclusion, and suggest a new reason for that impasse. Tschemplik is very justified in making another go at the problem of self-knowledge in Plato. -- Christopher Moore, University of Texas, Austin * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
I particularly admire and concur with Tschemplik's central thesis that even in the Theaetetus the general problem of knowledge cannot be divorced from the Socratic notion that all knowledge is self-knowledge. What makes this reading so forceful in its contribution to the scholarship is that it successfully refutes the oft-claimed notion that in Plato's later dialogues (such as the Theaetetus) he broke rank with Socrates and developed a theory of knowledge that stands on its own apart from the conversion of the soul that was a key component of Plato's early dialogues. Her arguments and the evidence she mounts that no such break is evident in the Theaetetus has far ranging implications for a holistic reading of the Platonic dialogues that does not assume a straightforward philosophical division between the early and late dialogues. -- Walter Brogan, Villanova University
Author Bio
Andrea Tschemplik is assistant professor of philosophy at American University.