The Ontology of the Secret Doctrine in Plato’s Theaetetus

Abstract

The paper offers an interpretation of a disputed portion of Plato’s Theaetetus that is often called the ‘Secret Doctrine’. It argues that the Secret Doctrine is a process ontology which takes two types of process, swift and slow motions, as fundamental building blocks for ordinary material objects. Slow motions are powers which, when realized, generate swift motions, and these in turn are subjectively bundled to compose sensible objects and perceivers.