<title>Cratylus</title>
<link>https://kylrth.com/book/cratylus/</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Jan 2022 15:11:14 -0500</pubDate>
<guid>https://kylrth.com/book/cratylus/</guid>
<description>In this dialog Hermogenes comes to Socrates to discuss Cratylus’ view of the nature of names, whether they are true to the objects they represent or are just conventional. Hermogenes believes that names are purely conventional, while Cratylus believes the opposite. Socrates falls somewhere in the middle:
I quite agree with you that words should as far as possible resemble things; but I fear that this dragging in of resemblance, as Hermogenes says, is a shabby thing, which has to be supplemented by the mechanical aid of convention with a view to correctness; for I believe that if we could always, or almost always, use likenesses, which are perfectly appropriate, this would be the most perfect state of language; as the opposite is the most imperfect.</description>