Socrates’ Mythological Role in Plato’s Theaetetus

Authors: Yip Mei Loh

Abstract:

Plato, as a poet, employs muthos extensively to express his philosophical dialectical development, so the majority of his dialogues are comprised of muthoi. We cannot separate his muthos from his philosophical thought, since the former has great influence in the latter. So the methodology of this paper is first to discuss the dialogue Theaetetus to find out why he compares Socrates to the Greek goddess Artemis; then his concept of Maieutikē will be investigated. At the beginning of Plato’s Theaetetus, Socrates first likens himself to the goddess Artemis, who, though unmarried, has a duty to assist women in labour. Socrates’ role, as Plato portrays, is the same as that of Artemis; and the technē he possesses is Maieutikē, which is to assist his students in giving birth to their mental offspring. This paper will focus on discussion on the Socratic mythological role in Platonic interpretation and dialectics so as to reveal the philosophical meaning of Socratic ignorance.

Keywords: Artemis, Ignorance, Logos, Maieutikē, Muthos.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1340076

References:

[1] Apology, Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997), English. Plato: Complete Works, edited with introduction and notes, associate editor: D.S. Hutchinson, (Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company). Platon Werke, Friedrich Schleiermacher (ed.), (1990). Griechisch und Deutsch. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
[2] Theaetetus, Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997), Plato: Complete Works.
[3] Gorgias 449b, Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997), Plato: Complete Works.
[4] Symposium 220 b-e, Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997), Plato: Complete Works.
[5] Aristotle, Metaphysics, 987b1-5. Jonathan Barnes (ed.) (1984). The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation. Princeton: Princeton Universsity Press.
[6] Phaedo, Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997), Plato: Complete Works.
[7] Politikos 268b-d, 308d, Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997), Plato: Complete Works.
[8] Sophist, Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997), Plato: Complete Works.
[9] Meno, Cooper, John M. (ed.) (1997), Plato: Complete Works.
[10] Cicero (1950 reprinted), Tusculan Disputations, V. iv. 10-11, trans. by J.E. King (Harvard Press: William Heineman Ltd).
[11] Zeller, Eduard (1888), Plato and the Older Academy, trans. by Sarah Frances Alleyne and Alfred Goodwin, (the UK: Lightning Source UK Ltd.).
[12] Sedley, David (2002), ‘Socratic Irony in the Platonist Commentators’ in the New Perspectives on Plato, Modern and Ancient, (Center for Hellenic Studies Trustees for Harvard University, London/England: Harvard University Press).
[13] Stewart, Scott Robert (1989), ‘The Epistemological Function of Platonic Myth’ in the Philosophy & Rhetoric. Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 260-280 (1989).
[14] Robinson, Richard (1953), Plato’s Earlier Dialectic, (Oxford: The Clarendon Press).