La clausola hos ouk eidosi (Theaet. 196 d 9) e il modello della colombaia

The clause ὡς οὐκ εἰδόσι in Theaet. 196 d 9, seemingly negligible or merely ambiguous, is rather particularly significant. It has a dual semantic value that emblematically expresses the complexity of the Aviary model in the Theaetetus as it is presented by Socrates, the character, and conceived by Plato, the author. The intertextual cross-references (in particular with the Meno and the Sophist) and the intratextual ones (similar clauses in Theaet 152 c 5-69 and 198 c 7-8) allow to show how that clause should be understood both in a subjective causal sense and in a comparative-hypothetical sense: these two nuances of meaning correspond to the two levels of reading the dialogue (respectively, the dramatic interaction among the characters and the deep development of the whole argument faced in the Theaetetus) and allow to highlight the positive and negative components of the epistemological hypothesis underlying the Aviary model.