Sunday, March 1, 2009
Epistemological Exorcism in the Theatetus
Towards the very end of the Theaetetus, at 210 b, Plato asks Theaetetus whether he is still pregnant with any thoughts about language, or if they have all been delivered. Having deconstructed multiple theories of knowledge without finding one that works, this question seems to suggest that Plato has performed something closer to an act of exorcism for Theaetetus, rather than support in childbirth. Theaetetus' ideas about knowledge were ones that he needed to free himself of, rather than theories in need of development. In this sense, rather than to arrive at knowledge, Socrates has exemplified philosophy as a tool to rid oneself of faulty knowledge claims. One might add that in this way one may attain a certain form of knowledge.
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I've had a second thought about the last statement I made in the entry above. Since, in the context of the dialogue, one does not know what knowledge is, it seems to follow that it is impossible for one to say that one knows that one doesn't know what knowledge is.
ReplyDeleteI think that an “exorcism” represents too great a separation (absolute split) from person and thoughts and theories that don’t work. I think childbirth works in the sense that while we may find that our “falsehoods” do not currently provide us with what we need, they may prove vital at a later date. Performing an “exorcism” on our thoughts leaves us little options to retrieve, reexamine, and modify those thoughts and theories that previously did not accommodate our course of inquiry. But with childbirth we remain in contact with our offspring; having the ability to call back those ideas that once seemed so false to us in deliberation. And I agree that there is a type of definition for knowledge inherent in the text. (I am referring to the last line in your first entry.)
ReplyDelete(Correction) The first sentence of my last blog;
ReplyDelete... ‘from person, thoughts, and theories that do not “work”’.
The idea of “exorcism” does seem to imply that spirits or thoughts exist outside the body. This has a Cartesian feel, but also suggests Plato’s idea of Recollection. A person who is possessed is impregnated with a thought or spirit that may or may not have been intended for this person; it may be a case of mistaken identity. Do thoughts and spirits search for appropriate owners? The idea of floating spirits and thoughts seems implausible and an absurd claim I know, but it’s neat to think about these and other impossible scenarios. I’m reminded of the passage in Phaedrus (275e) where Socrates is explaining how writing and composition drifts all over the place, getting into the hands of people that “have no business with it” and who it was not intended for; and whenever ill-treated these “writings, compositions, or whatever it may be” need parents to come to the rescue.
Recall Socrates' playful references to a "wind-egg," -- not entirely sure what that is -- and the decision to perform the hearth ritual having decided the child is worth rearing. Exorcism seems a bit fraught for what he is doing (as Keane suggests).
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