Thesauros Literature Philosophy Θεαίτητος

Θεαίτητος

Θεαίτητος Plato
160 SOC. And yet, when I become percipient, I must necessarily become percipient of something, for it is impossible to become percipient and perceive nothing; and that which is perceived must become so to someone, when it becomes sweet or bitter or the like; for to become sweet, but sweet to no one, is impossible.
160 THEAET. Perfectly true.
160 SOC. The result, then, I think, is that we (the active and the passive elements) are or become, whichever is the case, in relation to one another, since we are bound to one another by the inevitable law of our being, but to nothing else, not even to ourselves. The result, then, is that we are bound to one another; and so if a man says anything is, he must say it is to or of or in relation to something, and similarly if he says it becomes; but he must not say it is or becomes absolutely, nor can he accept such a statement from anyone else. That is the meaning of the doctrine we have been describing.
160 THEAET. Yes, quite so, Socrates.
160 SOC. Then, since that which acts on me is to me and to me only, it is also the case that I perceive it, and I only?
160 THEAET. Of course.
160 SOC. Then to me my perception is true; for in each case it is always part of my being; and I am, as Protagoras says, the judge of the existence of the things that are to me and of the non-existence of those that are not to me.
160 THEAET. So it seems.
160 SOC. How, then, if I am an infallible judge and my mind never stumbles in regard to the things that are or that become, can I fail to know that which I perceive?
160 THEAET. You cannot possibly fail.

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