Cratylus Quotes on Knowledge
Cratylus — the late fifth-century BC Athenian philosopher who according to Aristotle taught the young Plato in the years before Socrates supplied the principal philosophical influence — gave the radical Heraclitean tradition its most extreme statement of epistemological flux. The central commitment, transmitted through the Platonic dialogue Cratylus and Aristotle’s Metaphysics, is that the doctrine that one cannot step into the same river twice (attributed to Heraclitus) requires the further conclusion that one cannot step into the same river even once — and that significant speech about the world is therefore impossible, with Cratylus reportedly limiting himself in later life to wagging his finger to indicate the passing flow he could no longer pretend to name. The framework supplied the principal philosophical target of Plato’s distinction between the unstable sensible world and the stable intelligible Forms, and remains the canonical statement of the radical implications of Heraclitean flux for the possibility of knowledge.
Quotes
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Attributed to Cratylus:
“Names belong to things by nature, not by mere convention.”
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Attributed to Cratylus:
“Language can never quite catch up with reality.”
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Attributed to Cratylus:
“When asked anything, I will only point.”
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“What a swarm of sophists you lot have swirled up!”
Archilochoi ("The Archilochuses") (c. 448 BC) -
“Archilochoi ("The Archilochuses") (c. 448 BC)”
What a swarm of sophists you lot have swirled up! -
“Cheirones ("The Chirons")”
Even to wise mortals Music carries unceasing feelings... -
“Life in the past was happy for mortals as compared to now. Men led a life, gentle in mind with sweet-speaking wisdom, most beautiful of mortals.”
Cheirones ("The Chirons") -
“Cheirones ("The Chirons")”
Life in the past was happy for mortals as compared to now. Men led a life, gentle in mind with sweet-speaking wisdom, most beautiful of mortals. -
“Dionysalexandros (i.e. Dionysus in the part of Paris)”
Let the person who wins be him who says what is most desirable for the city. -
“...Each one of you is a bribe-taking fox.”
Nomoi ("The Laws") -
“You’ll never fashion anything clever by drinking water!”
Pytine ("The Wineflask") -
“Pytine ("The Wineflask")”
You’ll never fashion anything clever by drinking water!