Science (Part I)
Socrates: Tell me, if to learn is not to become wiser in that which one learns?
Theaetetus: It could not be otherwise.
Socrates: But I believe the wise are wise through wisdom.
Theaetetus: Yes.
Socrates: But does this in any respect differ from scientific knowledge?
Theaetetus: What?
Socrates: Wisdom. Or are the wise those who have scientific knowledge in those subjects which they study?
Theaetetus: Of course.
Socrates: For that reason, is scientific knowledge the same as wisdom?
Theaetetus: Yes
Socrates: Self is doubting this because I am not sufficiently able to determine what scientific knowledge is. Can we say more on this? What do you say? Which of us will speak first? He who wanders and is caught out shall be the donkey, as the young say when they play ball. But he who speaks without straying shall be our king and order us to answer any question he wishes.
Why are you silent?
Have I, O Theodorus, behaved in a harsh manner through the love of Divine Reason [Logos] and through my desire to discuss things and bond with each other?
Theodorus: No, such things are not harsh. Call upon one of these youths to answer you. I am a stranger to this type of speech, and my age does not allow me to become familiar with it now. Such a thing is more adapted to these young men, and they will advance because of it. And in reality, the youth is adapted to all kinds of advancement. As you begin, do not dismiss Theaetetus. Question him.
Socrates: Do you hear, Theaetetus, what Theodorus says? And I believe you should not disobey him. For, I believe you are neither willing nor is it lawful for a young man to disobey a wise man when he asks about things of this kind. Tell me correctly and intelligently what scientific knowledge appears to you to be.
Theaetetus: I am willing to comply as you ask. And if I wander, please correct me.
Socrates: We shall by all means if we are able.
Theaetetus: Well, it appears to me that scientific knowledge is things that can be learned from Theodorus, such as geometry and other matters that you have just described. Besides these are the shoemaker's art and the arts of other craftsmen, and each and every one of these is scientific knowledge.
Socrates: Bravely and generously, you have answered me, O friend. When asked about one thing, you have provided many things instead of that which is simple.
Theaetetus: How have I done this? Why are you saying this, Socrates?
Socrates: Maybe what I am going to say is nothing, but I will tell you anyway. When you talk of the shoemaker's art, do you speak of nothing other than scientific knowledge of making shoes?
Theaetetus: Nothing else.
Socrates: And what about when you speak of the carpenter's art? Do you speak of anything other than making things from wood?
Theaetetus: Nothing other than this.
Socrates: In both cases, you define to what each kind of scientific knowledge belongs.
Theaetetus: Yes
Socrates: But that what was asked, O Theaetetus, was not - of what does scientific knowledge belong - nor how many types of scientific knowledge there are. Our question was not to list but for selves to know what scientific knowledge itself is. Is what I am saying nothing?
Theaetetus: What you are saying is perfectly correct.
Socrates: Then also consider this. If anyone should question us about a low-value common thing such as clay, what is it? We may answer that clay is from the oven of the potter, tile-maker or the maker of puppets. Should we not sound ridiculous?
Theaetetus: Perhaps this I so.
Socrates: First, what can we think the questioner understands from our answer when we say clay is that from the potter, tile-maker, puppet-maker or any other? Or do you believe anybody can understand the name of a thing when they do not know what the thing is?
Theaetetus: There is no way.
Socrates: Neither, therefore, will a person understand the scientific knowledge of shoe-making if they do not know what scientific knowledge is.
Theaetetus: Certainly not.
Socrates: Nor, once more, will a person understand the currier's art, nor any other art, who is ignorant of scientific knowledge.
Theaetetus: This is so.
Socrates: Therefore, it is laughable when anyone being asked what scientific knowledge is gives an answer to the name of a particular art. This answers that there is scientific knowledge of a specific thing when this is not what was asked.
Theaetetus: This appears to be so.
Socrates: Furthermore, when a short and simple answer might have been given, he wanders to the extreme. As for the question concerning clay, a short and simple answer might also have been given, which is that clay is earth mingled with moisture, whilst not considering who made the clay.
Plato, The Theaetetus
Theodorus was a sophist - a teacher and an intellectual. Theaetetus was his student learning geometry and philosophy. Around the time of Socrates, sophists offered education in exchange for payment and personal gain. The art of rhetoric was their preferred subject matter.
Remember, Socrates believed that the wise are wise through wisdom. He then asked: Or are the wise those who have scientific knowledge in those subjects which they study?
It is easy for us to observe and name things, mistaking this for knowledge. However, to truly understand and grasp the essence of what we know is a far deeper task, reserved for the wise.
Note from the editor of Classical Philosophy