The Platonic Description of Perception Theaetetus 184-186

Abstract

In the passage 179c-183b, Plato rejects the extreme Heraclitean explanation of perception by showing that it cannot comply with condition (I): if while perceiving x, x moves, but does not change, it will be possible to describe x as something qualified. This paper intends to show that, for Plato, in order to comply with (I), there must be an explanation of perception in which the perception process is performed by an agent who undertakes other cognitive processes different from perception, such as judging. This is a process through which, for every sensible object x, it is possible to have knowledge of x.

Keywords

• Perception
• Plato
• Theaetetus
• Heraclitean doctrine