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Plato's Cratylus: The Problem of Language
Vítková Fikejsová, Jana ; Holeček, Tomáš (advisor) ; Horáček, Filip (referee)
The thesis deals with the question of the speech in Plato's dialogue Cratylus, from the perspective of philosophical thematization of the commitment of speech in the relationship between man and the world, as it gradually appears in individual ideas of the text. I deal with different approaches to the language of both Socrates' partners in the conversation, Hermogenes and Cratylus. They both prove problematic for various reasons. Hermogens see language as the work of human consensus and agreement, but it seems as he underestimate the importance of it and see it as something haphazard or arbitrary. The commitment of speech seemed to be precisely what Socrates were trying to bring Hermogens to. Names say what we consider the things to be. By being the smallest part of speech that makes sense, they can decide on its truth or falsity. Through speech, we relate to the being and we obtain a certain stability that enables us to know things and share that knowledge, which is definitely not happening arbitrarily. However, it should be borne in mind that the names show the convictions of the people who gave them to the things, and not something like the true nature of those things, as Cratylus would have believed, so that we cannot rely entirely on them for knowing things. Key words: Plato, Cratylus, speech,...
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