Plato on knowledge in the 'Theaetetus'

This article introduces Plato’s dialogue the Theaetetus (section 1), and briefly summarises its plot (section 2). Two leading interpretations of the dialogue, the Unitarian and Revisionist readings, are contrasted in section 3. Sections 4 to 8 explain and discuss the main arguments of the chief divisions of the dialogue. Section 9 provides some afterthoughts about the dialogue as a whole. One of the most challenging issues in this dialogue, as in all Platonic dialogues, is the comparison with Plato’s other writings, and especially the understanding of its chronological and theoretical placement within the corpus of Plato’s works. Alongside the numerous significant themes present in the dialogue, there are bibliographical references to the extensive secondary literature on the Theaetetus. These references will point to the most important and recent studies.