Single Idea 13776

[catalogued under 3. Truth / C. Correspondence Truth / 1. Correspondence Truth]

Full Idea

Those statements that say of the things that are that they are, are true, while those that say of the things that are that they are not, are false.

Gist of Idea

Truths say of what is that it is, falsehoods say of what is that it is not

Source

Plato (Cratylus [c.375 BCE], 385b)

Book Reference

Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.105


A Reaction

It was quite a shock to discover this, because the famous Aristotle definition (Idea 586) is always quoted, and no modern writers seem to have any awareness of the Plato remark. Classical scholarship is very poor in analytic philosophy.

Related Idea

Idea 586 Falsity says that which is isn't, and that which isn't is; truth says that which is is, and that which isn't isn't [Aristotle]