Plato's Epistemology

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Plato's theory of knowledge, stemming from his theory of the forms. It looks at how the bulk of his theory lay in three major dialogues: "The Meno," "The Theatetus," and "The Sophist". It shows how, collectively, they represent Plato's early, middle, and later portions of his life's work, respectively, and completely encompass the broad scope of his theory.

From the Paper:

"The Meno is where Plato begins to define his theory of the forms. This task is handled through a dialogue between Plato's teacher Socrates, and Meno, a Greek official. Socrates tells Meno that he has never met a man who could define virtue, and was wondering if Meno could undertake the task (it is noteworthy that Plato's choice in characters is not arbitrary. Meno was known for his tyranny, which adds irony to the work). Meno haughtily complies, and lists a variety of ways in which different types of people act virtuously. This however, is precisely the problem Socrates runs into when discussing the matter with people- they give examples of virtue, but fail to provide a holistic definition of what virtue is."

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