Socrates, having shot down two Theatetus’ explanations what knowledge is, asks him if he knows the explanation of the verb “to know”, which Socrates explains as “having knowledge”. But he tells Theaetetus he wants to change it to mean “to possess knowledge”. Confused at his distinction between the two which seems to be the same, Theaetetus asks why. Socrates explains that while the man does possess the birds, he does not have them because they are not in his hand. “...we …show more content…
Although the aviary’s distinction between potential and actual knowledge improves our understanding of the nature of “justified true belief”, it is rejected by Socrates because it explains false judgment as the interchange of pieces of knowledge. Theaetetus if you were willing to place in the aviary not just knowledge, but also ignorance, the question of false judgment would not be answered adequately. False judgment could be the grabbing of a piece of ignorance. As Socrates remarks, the ignorance can be confused with knowledge in the same way knowledge can be confused with itself. It’s interesting that Socrates points out that that addition wouldn’t help this argument. But it is also interesting that the teacher himself is discarding his own