An impossible choice: knowing and not knowing in the Aviary (Theaetetus 196c7-d2)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_32_26Keywords:
contradiction, error, falsity, judgement, knowledgeAbstract
In this work I examine the "impossible choice" that Socrates poses to Theaetetus, and which seems to involve choosing between: accepting (a) that false judgment is impossible, or (b) that it is possible to know and not to know the same object (Theaetetus 196c7-d2). According to the traditional interpretation of this choice, Socrates states that it is necessary to accept one of the two options: (b). Consequently, Socrates would develop the Aviary as a model of explanation of error in which it is possible to know and not to know the same thing. Here I argue against this reading. According to my interpretation, what Socrates says is that the two terms of the "impossible choice", (a) and (b), must be rejected, and, therefore, the Aviary presents a model in which false judgment is possible without having to accept that it is possible to know and not to know the same thing.
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