On Aug 19, 2013, at 9:28 AM, Jim Devine wrote:
Is "the Cratylus" one of the dialogues which (more of less)
represents Socrates' opinion or one of those in which Plato asserts
his perspective?
This is not a very useful division of the Platonic dialogues--Plato
himself only appears in them twice (as one of those offering to pay
the fine for Socrates in the Apology and as an anonymous "somebody"
making one comment in the Phaedo). Socrates is best viewed as a
central dramatic character (even if only as a listener in Timaeus,
Critias, Sophist, and Statesman) in "plays" that express ways to
discuss philosophical problems. Socrates notoriously had no
"opinions" in the sense of philosophical doctrines. Plato's
"perspective" emerges from the dialogues as a whole, like
Shakespeare's from the totality of the plays. Plato, in one of his
letters (whose authorship has been questioned, like that of Laws and
Epinomis, but not their authenticity as at least the work of Plato's
closest associates) said that "there are no works of Plato, only those
of a Socrates grown younger and more beautiful." In other words,
Plato is never about "doctrine," always about "method."
On Sun, Aug 18, 2013 at 8:41 PM, Shane Mage <[email protected]>
wrote:
On Aug 18, 2013, at 11:02 PM, Jim Devine wrote:
(I’m no philosopher, but as far as I can tell Plato thought the
“correct” definition would correspond to the divine “form,” which
he assumed exists. The form is assumed to be simple (having no
complicated concrete details, no shades of gray). Both the
definition and the form are abstract, so it’s possible for a human-
made definition to be correct in defining the form. Of course,
Plato assumed that he’s the type who can find the correct
definition. Not everyone is so smart.)
You should read the dialogue that Plato wrote on that subjecty: the
Cratylus. In this dialogue the two positions counterposed are that
"definitions" (meanings of words) are inherent in the language and
that they are purely conventional. Socrates shows (as usual) that
neither position (as developed in the dialogue) is at all
satisfactory. But he makes it clear that the right approach to
language should treat it as a sort of tool, 2.300 years before
Wittgenstein!
Shane Mage
"L'après-vie, c'est une auberge espagnole. L'on n'y trouve que ce
qu'on a apporté."
Bardo Thodol
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