Plotinus' epistemology and his reading of the 'Theaetetus'

The thesis offers a reconstruction of Plotinus' reading of the Theaetetus, and it presents an account of his epistemology that rests on that reading. It aims to show that Plotinus reads the Theaetetus as containing two anti-sceptical arguments. The first argument is an answer to radical scepticism, namely, to the thesis that nothing is apprehensible and judgement must be suspended on all matters. The second argument is an answer to a more moderate form of scepticism, which does not endorse a universal suspension of judgement, but maintains nonetheless that scientific knowledge is unattainable.;The second chapter examines Plotinus' interpretation of the ontology of the Timaeus. In Theaet., 151e-184a Plato shows that Protagoras' epistemology leads to radical scepticism by arguing that it implies an allegedly Heracleitean conception of the sensible world. Plotinus maintains that in the Timaeus Plato offers an alternative to Protagoras' and Heracleitus' ontology. This alternative conception of the sensible world provides some of the premises on which Plotinus builds his interpretation of Theaet., Part I, 184b-187a.;The third chapter reconstructs Plotinus' reading of Theaet. , 184b-187a. In this chapter it is argued that Plotinus takes the discussion of sensation at Theaet., 184b-186b 11 to remove the threat to knowledge that is presented by radical scepticism, while he reads Theaet., 186b 11-187a as presenting an argument against the more moderate forms of scepticism described above. The third chapter also offers an overview of Plotinus' reading of the Theaetetus in its entirety and it suggests that this dialogue for Plotinus represents a Platonic exercise in Socratic dialectic that aims to prepare the student for the dialectic of the Sophist.;The first chapter opens with a reconstruction of Plotinus' reading of Theaet., 151e-184a, where Socrates examines the thesis that knowledge is sensation in light of Protagoras' epistemology. In this chapter it is argued that Plotinus makes a polemical use of the discussion of Protagoras' epistemology. Plotinus takes Plato to show that Protagoras' views imply radical scepticism; and he attack the Stoics' epistemological and ontological commitments by arguing that they imply Protagoras' views, and thus lead to radical scepticism, too.