Nature of Knowledge and Plato Now : Confronting Epistemology with Some of its Ancient Roots

A bold and revisionary synthesis of contemporary and ancient Greek ways of knowing that confronts epistemology with its Platonic roots and reveals its flaws.

Through close engagement with Plato’s Meno, Theaetetus, and Republic, Stephen Hetherington argues that several foundational assumptions in contemporary epistemology fail to hold up when measured against the philosophical depth of these dialogues. Should epistemology, as practiced today, begin anew?

Focusing on central Platonic concerns about the nature of knowledge, Hetherington challenges the idea that epistemology can be pursued as a purely conceptual enterprise. He suggests that a historically grounded approach may not only enrich epistemological inquiry but also draw it closer to metaphysical reflection.

In this ambitious work, Hetherington explains that we need a clearer understanding of epistemology’s Platonic roots—both to make sense of what we are doing when we ask what knowledge is, and to improve how we understand knowledge itself.