Class 4 - Socrates Responds to Theaetetus's First Definition

2025-02-12
2 min read

Notes from Class 4

As I mentioned in the last class, sadly I can’t be with you today, as I’ll be at the hospital. So in this class, we’re going to dive into the real philosophical meat of the argument, and we’re going to start exploring Socrates’s counter-arguments.

Following the argument.

I thought about recording a video for you to explore the argument in depth. But I really can’t do any better than Dr. Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa, as she talks through this first part of the Theaetetus. So the start off with, watch the following video up to 16:16 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iePg6G3Jg4o

Make notes as you listen.

Questions on Socrates’s Counter-argument

  1. What is the distinction that Socrates makes between seeing with the eyes, and seeing through the eyes?
  2. What is it that does the seeing if we only see through (and not with) the eyes?
  3. What is the significance of Socrates’s question about “being and not-being, likeness and unlikeness, same and different, also things being one or having some number”? (185 d1)
  4. Why does Socrates then conclude that perception is not the same as knowledge?
  5. What problems can you find with Socrates’s counter-argument?
  6. Can you find any better counter-arguments?

Written work

For completion of this class, I want you to upload two things to the discussion board (all in one post):

  1. Some extracts from your notes of Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa’s talk
  2. Some initial answers to the six questions on Socrates’s counter-argument.

There is a minimum word-count submission of 500 words for this. You can work on this in class time, or after the class time (up to Sunday night, Myanmar time).

This will be graded as a participation task. But also, if you do not complete this task, I will mark you absent for the session on 13th February.

Next session

We’ll explore all this in the next session, and try to finally get this first part of the Theaetetus nailed down, so that when somebody says to you, “What’s the deal with knowledge and perception in the Theaetetus…?”, you’ll be able to tell them as easily as you can tell them what you had for dinner last night!

Next Class 3 - Theaetetus's First Definition