Conventionalism and Relativism in Plato's Cratylus

History of Philosophy Quarterly 38 (2):119-135 (2021)
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Abstract

In Plato's Cratylus, Hermogenes contends that the correctness of names is conventional. Appealing though this claim sounds to modern ears, it does not meet with approval in the Cratylus. Why? I argue that the conventionalism promoted by Hermogenes is discredited by unacceptable relativist implications because it incorporates the mistaken assumption that correct names are individuated exclusively by their phonetic composition.

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10.5406/21521026.38.2.02

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References found in this work

Plato on conventionalism.Rachel Barney - 1997 - Phronesis 42 (2):143 - 162.
Plato.J. C. B. Gosling - 1976 - Mind 85 (337):120-122.
Putting the Cratylus in its Place.Mary Margaret Mackenzie - 1986 - Classical Quarterly 36 (01):124-.
Plato on the Correctness of Names.Norman Kretzmann - 1971 - American Philosophical Quarterly 8 (2):126 - 138.

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