Abstract

In Theaetetus, Plato discusses the theory of Socrates’ dream, in which knowledge is defined as true judgement with an account (logos) and elements are claimed to be both unaccountable and unknowable. Fine (1979), in “Knowledge and Logos in the Theaetetus,” introduces two ways in which the meaning of logos can be understood, namely, the logosS and the logosK interpretations. According to Fine, something is knowable in the sense of logosS if there is a true statement of it and is knowable in the sense of logosK if it is analyzable completely into its constitutive parts. This paper compares these two understandings of logos and argues that if we take a Tractarian view of the relationship between complexes and elements, then the views of logosS and logosK could be combined and give a more coherent interpretation of the theory in Socrates’ dream.