can be given. And how can any one be ignorant of either of them, and yet
know both of them? There is, however, another alternative:--We may suppose
that the syllable has a separate form or idea distinct from the letters or
parts. The all of the parts may not be the whole. Theaetetus is very much
inclined to adopt this suggestion, but when interrogated by Socrates he is
unable to draw any distinction between the whole and all the parts. And if
the syllables have no parts, then they are those original elements of which
there is no explanation. But how can the syllable be known if the letter
remains unknown? In learning to read as children, we are first taught the
letters and then the syllables. And in music, the notes, which are the
letters, have a much more distinct meaning to us than the combination of
them.

Once more, then, we must ask the meaning of the statement, that 'Knowledge
is right opinion, accompanied by explanation or definition.' Explanation
may mean, (1) the reflection or expression of a man's thoughts--but every
man who is not deaf and dumb is able to express his thoughts--or (2) the
enumeration of the elements of which anything is composed. A man may have
a true opinion about a waggon, but then, and then only, has he knowledge of
a waggon when he is able to enumerate the hundred planks of Hesiod. Or he
may know the syllables of the name Theaetetus, but not the letters; yet not
until he knows both can he be said to have knowledge as well as opinion.
But on the other hand he may know the syllable 'The' in the name
Theaetetus, yet he may be mistaken about the same syllable in the name
Theodorus, and in learning to read we often make such mistakes. And even
if he could write out all the letters and syllables of your name in order,
still he would only have right opinion. Yet there may be a third meaning
of the definition, besides the image or expression of the mind, and the
enumeration of the elements, viz. (3) perception of difference.