Language, name and symbolism in Plato's Cratylus

Abstract

This article presents a critical discussion of the mimetic mode of naming in Plato’s dialogue Cratylus. For this purpose, the article proceeds by way of an explanation accompanying the “etymological section” of the dialogue, in order to uncover the devices involved in an “art” of naming consistent with mythological formulations. Next, we set out the limits of what we refer to here as a “symbolic language” so as to make clear, by consideration of the process of correcting conventional names, the theticproductive dimension of naming, which we see as essential to understanding the Platonic theory of language.