Le rejet de la connaissance de la connaissance, la thèse centrale du Charmide de Platon

In the Charmides, there is an obvious discrepancy between Plato's concern with the knowledge of knowledge and his understanding that knowledge, the subject matter of the knowledge of knowledge, cannot be known. I will contend that in order to understand Plato's intention, we have to draw a distinction between the subject matter of his question - knowledge of knowledge - and the subject matter of his answer: Plato's answer is a radical rejection of his question. Plato's answer corresponds with what was already established in other Socratic dialogues, whereas his question credits Plato, as far as I know, with being the first in the history of philosophy to ask it in a more consistent and sharply focused way than his interpreters are ready to admit.