Philosophy Commons^™

Strategic Meaning: Words As Tools Or Traps, Debra Blankenship

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

Upon initial glance, Plato’s Cratylus appears to be a grand romp of words with Socrates’s wit front and center. But a closer examination of the text shows a deadly serious, carefully plotted battle by Socrates to establish his philosophical perspective as preeminent. Plato thus reveals, by the end of the dialogue, that the true battle that Socrates is waging is the struggle to establish what foundation knowledge shall be built upon.