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Single Idea 13776
[filed under theme 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.377 BCE], 385b)
Book Ref
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]
The
19 ideas
from 'Cratylus'
13776
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Truths say of what is that it is, falsehoods say of what is that it is not
[Plato]
|
13772
|
Is the being or essence of each thing private to each person?
[Plato]
|
13774
|
Things don't have every attribute, and essence isn't private, so each thing has an essence
[Plato]
|
13775
|
We only succeed in cutting if we use appropriate tools, not if we approach it randomly
[Plato]
|
13777
|
A name is a sort of tool
[Plato]
|
13778
|
A dialectician is someone who knows how to ask and to answer questions
[Plato]
|
13779
|
The natural offspring of a lion is called a 'lion' (but what about the offspring of a king?)
[Plato]
|
13780
|
Good people are no different from wise ones
[Plato]
|
13781
|
Soul causes the body to live, and gives it power to breathe and to be revitalized
[Plato]
|
13783
|
Even the gods love play
[Plato]
|
13785
|
'Arete' signifies lack of complexity and a free-flowing soul
[Plato]
|
13786
|
Wisdom is called 'beautiful', because it performs fine works
[Plato]
|
13787
|
Doesn't each thing have an essence, just as it has other qualities?
[Plato]
|
13788
|
If we made a perfect duplicate of Cratylus, there would be two Cratyluses
[Plato]
|
13789
|
Anyone who knows a thing's name also knows the thing
[Plato]
|
13790
|
A name-giver might misname something, then force other names to conform to it
[Plato]
|
13791
|
Things must be known before they are named, so it can't be the names that give us knowledge
[Plato]
|
2063
|
How can beauty have identity if it changes?
[Plato]
|
13792
|
There can't be any knowledge if things are constantly changing
[Plato]
|