{ "schema": "prokopton42-public-passage-v1", "id": "plato.theaetetus", "canonical_url": "https://prokopton42.com/en/works/plato/theaetetus/reference-147/", "language": "en", "title": "Theaetetus", "author": "Plato", "date": "c. 369-360 BCE", "summary": "Socrates asks the young Theaetetus what knowledge is. Perception, true judgement, and true judgement with an account are examined and rejected, while midwifery describes inquiry able to deliver ideas without guaranteeing them.", "learning": "Compare three definitions of knowledge, follow models of error, and understand the positive function of methodical aporia.", "long_summary": "Identifying knowledge with perception leads to Protagoras, flux, and a long defence that Socrates later subjects to difficulty. The second part studies error, memory, and several possible meanings of an account.\n\nThe dialogue ends without definition just before Socrates goes to answer Meletus’ charge. Aporia is not empty: it separates often-confused problems and tests Theaetetus’ character. The reported frame adds distance between conversation and text.", "historical_context": "The corpus manifests do not yet establish the precise place and circumstances of composition. The images below document the author’s world or the text’s transmission. They do not claim to show the exact scene of writing.", "material_world_label": "Classical Greek world, 5th century BCE", "material_world": { "technology": "Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water.", "science": "Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments.", "medicine": "Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common.", "transport": "Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies.", "agriculture": "Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war.", "communication": "Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media.", "clothing": "Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes." }, "material_world_scenes": [ { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-01.webp", "title": "Technology, science, and care", "description": "Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water. Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments. Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-02.webp", "title": "Travel and communication", "description": "Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies. Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-03.webp", "title": "Farming and food", "description": "Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-04.webp", "title": "Clothing, women and men", "description": "Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes." } ], "intellectual_tradition": { "id": "platonism", "label": "Socratic and Platonic thought" }, "period": { "id": "ancient", "label": "Antiquity" }, "languages": [ "grc", "en", "fr" ], "manifestations": [ { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/theaetetus/representations/grc.ndjson", "language": "grc", "records": 69, "role": "original", "sha256": "c0db0639eed082ad76edb4937a8b333e87fe2ad17ebac2e2ac28a39bf522510f", "source_id": "perseus-plato-theaetetus-grc" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/theaetetus/representations/en.ndjson", "language": "en", "records": 69, "role": "historical_translation", "sha256": "5edebde70f179a0cc1eb228daf065e9d8e2b579b92b5ffbcf289d4735b8a9fb4", "source_id": "perseus-plato-theaetetus-en" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/theaetetus/representations/ai-generated/fr-gpt-5-6-sol-corpus-passage-translation-v1.ndjson", "generated_on": "2026-09-11", "language": "fr", "model": "gpt-5.6-sol", "official_status": "non_official", "prompt_version": "corpus-passage-translation-v1", "provider": "codex_subscription", "records": 69, "role": "ai_generated_translation_non_official", "sha256": "8f03f03257c59e57306abb87f31e5b56d83bebfdcec3bf0d6c3e2af28f964e5f", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/theaetetus_fr_carrier/representations/fr.ndjson", "language": "fr", "records": 1, "role": "historical_translation", "sha256": "c3a74081350f37adeca1cadf23f1eb59e45b611e04eb2f3a2376b5253c47253e", "source_id": "wikisource-cousin-theaetetus-fr-01" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/theaetetus_fr_carrier/representations/ai-generated/en-gpt-5-6-sol-corpus-passage-translation-v1.ndjson", "generated_on": "2026-09-11", "language": "en", "model": "gpt-5.6-sol", "official_status": "non_official", "prompt_version": "corpus-passage-translation-v1", "provider": "codex_subscription", "records": 1, "role": "ai_generated_translation_non_official", "sha256": "2450e9bd6351d14e5668c869e79b3d5cd1ffd70c59fe5cbd84d73968eff0de2c", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation" } ], "concepts": [ { "id": "care_of_soul", "label": "Care of the soul" }, { "id": "dialectic", "label": "Dialectic" }, { "id": "ether_field", "label": "Ether and field" }, { "id": "forms", "label": "Intelligible forms" }, { "id": "justice", "label": "Justice" }, { "id": "knowledge", "label": "Knowledge" }, { "id": "philosophical_eros", "label": "Philosophical eros" }, { "id": "reason", "label": "Reason" }, { "id": "sin", "label": "Sin" } ], "source_work_ids": [ "plato.theaetetus", "plato.theaetetus_fr_carrier" ], "passages": 69, "word_count": 34012, "word_counts_by_language": { "en": 34012, "fr": 33252, "grc": 23560 }, "editorial_status": "gpt_5_6_semantic_draft_v1", "structure": { "citation_scheme": "plato-stephanus-page-v1", "kind": "native", "levels": [ { "key": "stephanus_page", "label_fr": "Page Stephanus", "label_en": "Stephanus page" } ], "leaf_fr": "Passage", "leaf_en": "Passage" }, "canonical_passage_id": "passage:plato.theaetetus:147", "canonical_ref": "147", "canonical_parent_ref": null, "canonical_parent_id": null, "representations": [ { "language": "grc", "text": "ΣΩ. σκέψαι δὴ καὶ τόδε. εἴ τις ἡμᾶς τῶν φαύλων τι καὶ προχείρων ἔροιτο, οἷον περὶ πηλοῦ ὅτι ποτʼ ἐστίν, εἰ ἀποκριναίμεθα αὐτῷ πηλὸς ὁ τῶν χυτρέων καὶ πηλὸς ὁ τῶν ἰπνοπλαθῶν καὶ πηλὸς ὁ τῶν πλινθουργῶν, οὐκ ἂν γελοῖοι εἶμεν; ΘΕΑΙ. ἴσως. ΣΩ. πρῶτον μέν γέ που οἰόμενοι συνιέναι ἐκ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀποκρίσεως τὸν ἐρωτῶντα, ὅταν εἴπωμεν πηλός, εἴτε ὁ τῶν κοροπλαθῶν προσθέντες εἴτε ἄλλων ὡντινωνοῦν δημιουργῶν. ἢ οἴει τίς τι συνίησίν τινος ὄνομα, ὃ μὴ οἶδεν τί ἐστιν; ΘΕΑΙ. οὐδαμῶς. ΣΩ. οὐδʼ ἄρα ἐπιστήμην ὑποδημάτων συνίησιν ὁ ἐπιστήμην μὴ εἰδώς. ΘΕΑΙ. οὐ γάρ. ΣΩ. σκυτικὴν ἄρα οὐ συνίησιν ὃς ἂν ἐπιστήμην ἀγνοῇ, οὐδέ τινα ἄλλην τέχνην. ΘΕΑΙ. ἔστιν οὕτως. ΣΩ. γελοία ἄρα ἡ ἀπόκρισις τῷ ἐρωτηθέντι ἐπιστήμη τί ἐστιν, ὅταν ἀποκρίνηται τέχνης τινὸς ὄνομα. τινὸς γὰρ ἐπιστήμην ἀποκρίνεται οὐ τοῦτʼ ἐρωτηθείς. ΘΕΑΙ. ἔοικεν. ΣΩ. ἔπειτά γέ που ἐξὸν φαύλως καὶ βραχέως ἀποκρίνασθαι περιέρχεται ἀπέραντον ὁδόν. οἷον καὶ ἐν τῇ τοῦ πηλοῦ ἐρωτήσει φαῦλόν που καὶ ἁπλοῦν εἰπεῖν ὅτι γῆ ὑγρῷ φυραθεῖσα πηλὸς ἂν εἴη, τὸ δʼ ὅτου ἐᾶν χαίρειν. ΘΕΑΙ. ῥᾴδιον, ὦ Σώκρατες, νῦν γε οὕτω φαίνεται· ἀτὰρ κινδυνεύεις ἐρωτᾶν οἷον καὶ αὐτοῖς ἡμῖν ἔναγχος εἰσῆλθε διαλεγομένοις, ἐμοί τε καὶ τῷ σῷ ὁμωνύμῳ τούτῳ Σωκράτει. ΣΩ. τὸ ποῖον δή, ὦ Θεαίτητε; ΘΕΑΙ. περὶ δυνάμεών τι ἡμῖν Θεόδωρος ὅδε ἔγραφε, τῆς τε τρίποδος πέρι καὶ πεντέποδος ἀποφαίνων ὅτι μήκει οὐ σύμμετροι τῇ ποδιαίᾳ, καὶ οὕτω κατὰ μίαν ἑκάστην προαιρούμενος μέχρι τῆς ἑπτακαιδεκάποδος· ἐν δὲ ταύτῃ πως ἐνέσχετο. ἡμῖν οὖν εἰσῆλθέ τι τοιοῦτον, ἐπειδὴ ἄπειροι τὸ πλῆθος αἱ δυνάμεις ἐφαίνοντο, πειραθῆναι συλλαβεῖν εἰς ἕν, ὅτῳ πάσας ταύτας προσαγορεύσομεν τὰς δυνάμεις. ΣΩ. ἦ καὶ ηὕρετέ τι τοιοῦτον; ΘΕΑΙ. ἔμοιγε δοκοῦμεν· σκόπει δὲ καὶ σύ. ΣΩ. λέγε. ΘΕΑΙ. τὸν ἀριθμὸν πάντα δίχα διελάβομεν· τὸν μὲν δυνάμενον ἴσον ἰσάκις γίγνεσθαι τῷ τετραγώνῳ τὸ σχῆμα ἀπεικάσαντες τετράγωνόν τε καὶ ἰσόπλευρον προσείπομεν. ΣΩ. καὶ εὖ γε.", "edition": "perseus-plato-theaetetus-grc", "source_id": "perseus-plato-theaetetus-grc", "translation_type": "original" }, { "language": "en", "text": "SOC. Take this example. If anyone should ask us about some common everyday thing, for instance, what clay is, and we should reply that it is the potters’ clay and the oven makers’ clay and the brickmakers’ clay, should we not be ridiculous? THEAET. Perhaps. SOC. Yes in the first place for assuming that the questioner can understand from our answer what clay is, when we say clay, no matter whether we add the image-makers’ or any other craftsmen’s. Or does anyone, do you think, understand the name of anything when he does not know what the thing is? THEAET. By no means. SOC. Then he does not understand knowledge of shoes if he does not know knowledge. THEAET. No. SOC. Then he who is ignorant of knowledge does not understand cobblery or any other art. THEAET. That is true. SOC. Then it is a ridiculous answer to the question what is knowledge? when we give the name of some art; for we give in our answer something that knowledge belongs to, when that was not what we were asked. THEAET. So it seems. SOC. Secondly, when we might have given a short, everyday answer, we go an interminable distance round; for instance, in the question about clay, the everyday, simple thing would be to say clay is earth mixed with moisture without regard to whose clay it is. THEAET. It seems easy just now, Socrates, as you put it; but you are probably asking the kind of thing that came up among us lately when your namesake, Socrates here, and I were talking together. SOC. What kind of thing was that, Theaetetus? THEAET. Theodorus here was drawing some figures for us in illustration of roots, showing that squares containing three square feet and five square feet are not commensurable in length with the unit of the foot, and so, selecting each one in its turn up to the square containing seventeen square feet and at that he stopped. Now it occurred to us, since the number of roots appeared to be infinite, to try to collect them under one name, by which we could henceforth call all the roots. SOC. And did you find such a name? THEAET. I think we did. But see if you agree. SOC. Speak on. THEAET. We divided all number into two classes. The one, the numbers which can be formed by multiplying equal factors, we represented by the shape of the square and called square or equilateral numbers. SOC. Well done!", "translator": "Benjamin Jowett", "edition": "perseus-plato-theaetetus-en", "source_id": "perseus-plato-theaetetus-en", "translation_type": "historical_human_translation" }, { "language": "fr", "text": "SOC. Prends cet exemple. Si quelqu’un nous interrogeait sur une chose commune et quotidienne, l’argile par exemple, et que nous répondions qu’il y a l’argile des potiers, celle des fabricants de fours et celle des briquetiers, ne serions-nous pas ridicules ? THÉÉT. Peut-être. SOC. Oui, d’abord parce que nous supposerions que celui qui nous interroge peut comprendre par notre réponse ce qu’est l’argile lorsque nous prononçons ce mot, peu importe que nous ajoutions « des modeleurs d’images » ou le nom de quelque autre artisan. Crois-tu que quelqu’un comprenne le nom d’une chose quand il ignore ce qu’elle est ? THÉÉT. Nullement. SOC. Celui qui ne sait pas ce qu’est la connaissance ne comprend donc pas la connaissance des chaussures. THÉÉT. Non. SOC. Celui qui ignore ce qu’est la connaissance ne comprend donc ni la cordonnerie ni aucun autre art. THÉÉT. C’est vrai. SOC. C’est donc une réponse ridicule à la question « Qu’est-ce que la connaissance ? » que de donner le nom d’un art. Car notre réponse indique une chose à laquelle appartient la connaissance, alors que ce n’est pas ce qu’on nous demandait. THÉÉT. Il semble bien. SOC. Ensuite, alors que nous pourrions donner une réponse brève et ordinaire, nous faisons un détour interminable. Ainsi, pour la question de l’argile, la réponse ordinaire et simple consisterait à dire que l’argile est de la terre mêlée d’humidité, sans se soucier de savoir à qui elle appartient. THÉÉT. La chose paraît facile maintenant que tu l’exposes ainsi, Socrate. Mais tu demandes probablement quelque chose du genre de ce qui s’est présenté récemment parmi nous, lorsque ton homonyme, ce Socrate-ci, et moi discutions ensemble. SOC. De quoi s’agissait-il, Théétète ? THÉÉT. Théodore nous traçait des figures pour illustrer les racines. Il montrait que les côtés des carrés de trois pieds carrés et de cinq pieds carrés ne sont pas commensurables en longueur avec le pied pris pour unité. Il les prenait ainsi l’un après l’autre jusqu’au carré de dix-sept pieds carrés, et il s’est arrêté là. Comme les racines semblaient être en nombre infini, il nous vint à l’esprit d’essayer de les rassembler sous un nom unique par lequel nous pourrions désormais désigner toutes les racines. SOC. Et avez-vous trouvé un tel nom ? THÉÉT. Je crois que oui. Mais vois si tu es d’accord. SOC. Parle. THÉÉT. Nous avons divisé tous les nombres en deux classes. Ceux qui peuvent être formés en multipliant des facteurs égaux, nous les avons représentés par la figure du carré et les avons appelés nombres carrés ou équilatéraux. SOC. Fort bien !", "translator": "Codex gpt-5.6-sol", "edition": "Prokopton42 non-official AI translation, 2026-09-11", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation", "official_status": "non_official", "generation_model": "gpt-5.6-sol" } ], "content_checksum": "5faedc2501bc2b924d4530d4e8075a0a7b56c9a90a53e17c12283b1760ccbcb7" }