Plato's Cratylus : the comedy of language

249 Pages·2014·1.62 MB·english

by  Plato.

PLATO’S CRATYLUS
Studies in Continental Thought
EDITOR
JOHN SALLIS
CONSULTING EDITORS
Robert Bernasconi J. N. Mohanty
Rudolf Bernet Mary Rawlinson
John D. Caputo Tom Rockmore
David Carr Calvin O. Schrag
Edward S. Casey †Reiner Schürmann
Hubert L. Dreyfus Charles E. Scott
Don Ihde Thomas Sheehan
David Farrell Krell Robert Sokolowski
Lenore Langsdorf Bruce W. Wilshire
Alphonso Lingis David Wood
William L. McBride
PLATO’S CR ATYLUS
The Comedy of Language
S. Montgomery Ewegen
Indiana University Press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
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© 2014 by Shane Montgomery Ewegen
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ewegen, S. Montgomery.
Plato’s Cratylus : the comedy of language / S. Montgomery Ewegen.
pages cm. — (Studies in Continental thought)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-01044-5 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-01051-3 (eb)
1. Plato. Cratylus. 2. Language and languages—Philosophy. I. Title.
B367.E94 2013
184—dc23
2013010885
1 2 3 4 5 18 17 16 15 14
For the Bear, the Platypus, the Cat, and the Magpie
and in memory of Waldo and Søren
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Aἰὼν παῖς ἐστι παίζων, πεσσεύων· παιδὸς ἡ βασιληίη·
Eternity is a child playing, moving pieces in a game. Kingship to
the child.
—Heraclitus, Fr. 52; trans. Kahn, slightly modified
“Big things, child of Hipponicus, you ask. But there is a serious
way of talking about the names of these gods and a playful way.
So ask some others for the serious way; but there is nothing to
prevent us from passing through the playful way. For even the
gods are lovers of play.”
—Cratylus, 406b–c (my translation)
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CONTENTS
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Note on Translation xv
List of Textual Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 1
1 First Words 17
2 Marking the Limits 30
3 A Question of Inheritance 50
4 The Nature of Nature 59
5 Technological Language 75
6 A Homeric Inheritance 98
7 What Words Will 121
8 The Tragedy of Cratylus 155
Conclusion: The Comedy of the Cratylus 182
Notes 191
Bibliography 219
Index 223