2020/08/28 by Luc Brisson, Brisson, Luc, Salomon Ofman +1 · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Mathematics · #Classical Philosophy and Thought #FOS: Mathematics #Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies #History and Overview (math.HO) #History and Theory of Mathematics #Medieval and Classical Philosophy #Philosophy, Science, and History
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2008.12517
openalex publication_date 2020/08/28 · openalex created_date 2022/10/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In a first article (referred here as B-O), we studied the first part of the so-called 'mathematical part' of Plato's Theaetetus, i.e. Theodorus' lesson. In the present one, we consider the sequel and the end of the passage (147d7-148b2), as well as its philosophical interpretation in connection with the whole dialogue. As in the previous article, we analyze it simultaneously from the mathematical, the historical and the philosophical points of view, a necessity to understand it. Our strategy is once again to take seriously Plato's text, not as the dream of a poet. Our analysis casts a new light on this passage, as an essential testimony for both Plato's philosophy and for history of mathematics. Plato's relation to Theodorus and Theaetetus is more complex than usually claimed; the search for a definition of knowledge conducted in a large part of the dialogue and even in some other dialogues is rooted in the mathematical passage; it needs a reevaluation of its connection to Euclid's Elements, in particular the proposition X.9, as well as a supposed Euclid's 'catastrophic' mistake (to quote Jean Itard) on incommensurability. In a nutshell, the passage has to be understood differently than in the usual interpretations gathered together under the collective so-called name 'Modern Standard Interpretation' (or MSI). Both articles form a whole. They are both aimed to an audience without any particular mathematical background, and require only elementary mathematical knowledge, essentially of high school-level. Some more complex points are developed in an Appendix at the end of the article.