Theaetetus (Plato)

Theaetetus (c. 417 B.C. – 369 B.C.) was a Greek mathematician of Geometry. His principal contributions were on irrational lengths, which was included in Book X of Euclid's Elements. He was described as having a short nose and protruding eyes. Much of what we know of him comes from Plato. The Theaetetus crater on the Moon is named after him.
The Thetetus is a dialogue by Plato thought to have been written in the year 369 B.C. In this dialogue Socrates, Theodorus and Theaetetus try to define what knowledge is. Other participants in the dialogue are Eucleides and Terpsion. Although the dialogue never succeeds in giving a clearcut answer to the question "What is knowledge?", it shows the reader some failed and some more fruitful approaches to the question. Approaches not very different from these are still discussed in modern epistemology. The dialogue is split into roughly three sections, Knowledge is perception, Knowledge is true belief, and Knowledge is justified true belief.

Knowledge is perception

(More about the different approaches...)

Knowledge is true belief

Knowledge is justified true belief

External Link

The full text is available from Project Gutenberg

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
julia set
obesity
infrared astronomy
akhnaten (opera)
jeff bridges
inclination
astronomical distance
fowler's modern english usage
fowler
jeans
theo wade brown
rnskldsvik municipality
antonio stradivari
apraxia
canavan disease
carpal tunnel syndrome
joubert syndrome
cassava
neurofibromatosis
pelizaeus merzbacher disease
leopold i of belgium
benjamin netanyahu
post polio syndrome
kingston upon hull
rett syndrome
north
q fever
tay sachs disease
tourette syndrome
low pass filter
zellweger syndrome
high pass filter
sax rohmer
regina marsikova
bergen, norway
mons
kingston
bharatanatyam
rockland county, new york
monarchy in canada
schoharie county, new york
saratoga county, new york
marlinespike hitch
judi bari