Q23: Compare the discussion of knowledge in Meno with that in Theaetetus

23. Compare the discussion of knowledge in Meno with that in Theaetetus. 

[AT note: Based on Chris Tweedt 2011]

1.       Similarities

a.     Knowledge is achieved from within the soul

                                               i.     Meno: recollection

                                             ii.     Theatetus: achieved from within the soul to the extent that the soul (as opposed to the sense organs) have the knowledge (so knowledge is not just perception); aviary & wax analogies: they’re presupposing that all of these propositions are in the soul

b.     Knowledge is true judgment + something else

                                               i.     Meno: an account/reason to tie down the judgment (diachronically stable, sychronically absolute—i.e. not relative to the knower) [Daedalus, Larissa] 

                                             ii.     Theaetetus: we don’t know what the account is; ends aporetically.  Unsuccessful options for the account:

1.   saying what the judgment is

2.   saying what the parts of the judgment are

3.   saying the difference between that judgment and others

c.     Knowledge is valuable

                                               i.     Meno Problem: is knowledge valuable?; solution: knowledge is “tied down”

                                             ii.     Theaetetus: knowledge is better than perception and TJ

2.      Differences

a.     How to acquire it: dialectic (slave boy in Meno) v. midwifery (Theatetus) (Are these different?)

b.     Whether non-occurent truths are knowledge or true opinion

                                               i.     Meno: True opinion—solution to Meno’s paradox is to deny:

1.   If I don’t know what I’m searching for, inquiry is impossible.

2.   Rather, what is searched for becomes knowledge through recollection via dialectic.  What’s recollected was not knowledge, and it becomes knowledge.

                                             ii.     Theaetetus: Knowledge—aviary analogy distinguishes possessing K and having K. Loose birds are possessed but not had. Would deny:

1.   If I know what I’m searching for, inquiry is impossible.

                                            iii.     So, different solutions to Meno’s paradox

c.     Whether knowledge is true opinion plus an account

                                               i.     Meno: explicit that this is true, and the account ties down the true opinion

                                             ii.     Theaetetus: The account (logos) is divided into 3 types, and each type is insufficient for K