First published in 1962, this book provides a systematic account of the development of Plato’s theory of knowledge. Beginning with a consideration of the Socratic and other influences which determined the form in which the problem of knowledge first presented itself to Plato, the author then works through the dialogues from the Meno to the Laws and examines in detail Plato’s progressive attempts to solve the problem.

Contents

PrefacePart I: The Theroy of Recollection1. Socratic Doctrine in the Early Dialogues 2. The Meno 3. The Phaedo Part II: The Criticism of Perception1. Introduction 2. The Symposium 3. The Republic 4. The Cratylus 5. The Theaetetus Part III: Knowledge and Belief 1. Recollection and the New Method of Dialectic 2. The Evaluation of Perception in Plato’s Later Theory 3. Knowledge and Belief in the Timaeus 4. The Sophist’s Account of Statement and Belief Part IV: Mathematical Knowledge 1. Mathematics in the Natural Sciences 2. Mathematics and the Forms 3. The Objects of mathematical Knowledge 4. Conclusion;Notes; Index