Plato's Cratylus [Paperback]

Presents a global reinterpretation of Cratylus, Plato's only dialogue devoted to the subject of language.Plato's Cratylus is a brilliant but enigmatic dialogue. It bears on a topic, the relation of language to knowledge, which has never ceased to be of central philosophical importance. This book presents a global reinterpretation of the Cratylus and is designed to be accessible to anyone interested either in Plato or in the history of linguistic thought. The main text does not presuppose prior expertise in Plato or knowledge of Greek, and such scholarly aspects are confined to the footnotes.Plato's Cratylus is a brilliant but enigmatic dialogue. It bears on a topic, the relation of language to knowledge, which has never ceased to be of central philosophical importance. This book presents a global reinterpretation of the Cratylus and is designed to be accessible to anyone interested either in Plato or in the history of linguistic thought. The main text does not presuppose prior expertise in Plato or knowledge of Greek, and such scholarly aspects are confined to the footnotes.This book presents a global reintrepretation of the Cratylus, which bears on the relationship of language to knowledge, a topic that has never ceased to be of central philosophical importance. It is designed to be accessible to anyone interested either in Plato or in the history of linguistic thought. The main text does not presuppose prior expertise in Plato or knowledge of Greek; such scholarly aspects are confined to the footnotes.Preface; 1. Author and text; 2. Plato the etymologist; 3. Linguistic science; 4. Etymology at work; 5. The dominance of flux; 6. The limits of etymology; 7. A Platonic outcome; References; Index locorum; General index. ...impressive monography...even those sceptical of whether Plato was ever a Platonist might find Sedley's double-dating of the Cratylus persuasive, and...somewhat liberating.
-A.D. Carpenter, Department of Philosophy, University of St. Andrewló8