Editing Theaetetus (dialogue) (section)

== Date and setting ==
The ''Theaetetus'' is one of the few works of Plato that gives contextual clues on the timeline of its authorship: The dialogue is framed by a brief scene in which [[Euclid of Megara]] and his friend [[Terpsion]] witness a wounded Theataetus returning on his way home after from fighting in an Athenian battle at [[Corinth]], from which he apparently died of his wounds. Euclid tells his friend that he has a written record of a dialogue between [[Socrates]] and Theaetetus, which occurred when Theaetetus was quite a young man. The dialogue is then read aloud to the two men by a slave owned by Euclid.

The exact timeline of which battle at Corinth has been a matter of some disagreement between scholars: it has generally been presumed that the battle occurred in 369 BC; when Theaetetus would have been in his late forties, but more recently, scholars including [[Debra Nails]] have argued that the battle referenced in the dialogue was a different battle in Corinth that occurred much earlier, in 391 BC, when Theatetus would have been in his late 20s.<ref>[[Debra Nails]], ''The People of Plato''. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2002; pp. 275–278</ref> 

As far as internal characteristics, the dialogue is considered to be similar to the "earlier" dialogues of Plato, such as the ''[[Euthyphro]]'' or the ''[[Crito]]'', in that Plato's Socrates discusses the nature of knowledge in the Theaetetus without giving any of his own views, and the dialogue ultimately ends in [[aporia]] without a satisfying answer. However, it also resembles many of the more philosophically complex "later" dialogues such as ''[[Parmenides (dialogue)|Parmenides]]'', ''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]]'' and the dialogues ''[[Sophist (dialogue)|Sophist]]'' and ''[[Statesman (dialogue)|Statesman]]'' which serve as a narrative sequel.