Theaetetus

SOCRATES: Let us indeed examine these things by taking them up again, or rather ourselves, to see whether we learned letters in this way or not. Come first: do syllables indeed have an account, but elements have no account? THEAETETUS: Perhaps. SOCRATES: Indeed it seems so to me as well. At any rate, if someone were to ask about the first syllable of ‘Socrates’ in this way: “O Theaetetus, tell me, what is SO?” what would you reply? THEAETETUS: That it is sigma and omega. SOCRATES: Therefore you have this as the account of the syllable? THEAETETUS: I do. SOCRATES: Come now, in the same way, tell me also the account of sigma. THEAETETUS: And how will anyone say the elements of an element? For indeed, Socrates, sigma is one of the voiceless letters, merely a certain noise, like the tongue hissing; and as for beta, on the other hand, there is neither voice nor noise, nor is there in most of the elements. So that it is very well said that they themselves are without account, of which indeed the most distinct seven have voice only, but no account whatsoever. SOCRATES: This point then, my friend, we have established correctly concerning knowledge. THEAETETUS: So we seem. SOCRATES: What then? Have we demonstrated rightly that the element is not knowable, but the syllable is? THEAETETUS: It is likely, indeed. SOCRATES: Come now, do we say that the syllable is both elements (or all of them, if there are more than two), or some single form that has come to be when they are put together? THEAETETUS: To me at least, we seem to mean all of them. SOCRATES: Look then in the case of the two, sigma and omega. Both are the first syllable of my name. Does the one who knows it know anything else than both? THEAETETUS: Of course. SOCRATES: He knows, then, sigma and omega. THEAETETUS: Yes. SOCRATES: What then? Is he ignorant of each of them, and knowing neither of them, does he know both? THEAETETUS: But that is strange and irrational, Socrates. SOCRATES: Yet surely, if it is necessary to know each of them if one is to know both, it is absolutely necessary for the one who is ever to know a syllable to know the elements beforehand, and thus our beautiful argument will have run away and vanished. THEAETETUS: And very suddenly, too. SOCRATES: For we are not guarding it well. For perhaps we ought to have posited that the syllable is not the elements, but some single form that has arisen from them, having a single idea of its own, and being different from the elements. THEAETETUS: Absolutely so; and perhaps it would be better this way than that. SOCRATES: We must examine this and not betray so unmanfully a great and solemn argument. THEAETETUS: Certainly not.