Why Is the Sophist a Sequel to the Theaetetus?

Phronesis 52 (1):33-57 (2007)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The "Theaetetus" and the "Sophist" both stand in the shadow of the "Parmenides," to which they refer. I propose to interpret these two dialogues as Plato's first move in the project of reshaping his metaphysics with the double aim of avoiding problems raised in the "Parmenides" and applying his general theory to the philosophy of nature. The classical doctrine of Forms is subject to revision, but Plato's fundamental metaphysics is preserved in the "Philebus" as well as in the "Timaeus." The most important change is the explicit enlargement of the notion of Being to include the nature of things that change. This reshaping of the metaphysics is prepared in the "Theaetetus" and "Sophist" by an analysis of sensory phenomena in the former and, in the latter, a new account of Forms as a network of mutual connections and exclusions. The division of labor between the two dialogues is symbolized by the role of Heraclitus in the former and that of Parmenides in the latter. Theaetetus asks for a discussion of Parmenides as well, but Socrates will not undertake it. For that we need the visitor from Elea. Hence the "Theaetetus" deals with becoming and flux but not with being; that topic is reserved for Eleatic treatment in the "Sophist." But the problems of falsity and Not-Being, formulated in the first dialogue, cannot be resolved without the considerations of truth and Being, reserved for the later dialogue. That is why there must be a sequel to the "Theaetetus."

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The Theaetetus and Sophist. [REVIEW]R. S. Bluck - 1963 - The Classical Review 13 (01):36-39.
Plato's Theaetetus.David Bostock - 1988 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Reading Plato’s Theaetetus.Timothy D. J. Chappell - 2004 - Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett Pub. Co.. Edited by Plato.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
129 (#131,046)

6 months
1 (#1,040,386)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

Plato and the Norms of Thought.R. Woolf - 2013 - Mind 122 (485):171-216.
The “secret doctrine”, the universal flux and the Heraclitism in the first part of the Theaetetus.Franco Ferrari - 2015 - Archai: Revista de Estudos Sobre as Origens Do Pensamento Ocidental 15:129-133.
Il Teeteto e il suo rapporto con il Cratilo.Aldo Brancacci - 2020 - Elenchos: Rivista di Studi Sul Pensiero Antico 41 (1):27-48.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references