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Single Idea 13779
[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / G. Biology / 5. Species
]
Full Idea
It seems to me that it is right to call a lion's offspring a 'lion' and a horse's offspring a 'horse' (I'm talking about natural offspring, not some monster). ...but by the same argument any offspring of a king should be called a 'king'.
Gist of Idea
The natural offspring of a lion is called a 'lion' (but what about the offspring of a king?)
Source
Plato (Cratylus [c.377 BCE], 393b)
Book Ref
Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.112
A Reaction
The standard modern difficulty is whether all descendants of dinosaurs are still called 'dinosaur', which they are not.
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
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Is the being or essence of each thing private to each person?
[Plato]
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13774
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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
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A name is a sort of tool
[Plato]
|
13778
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A dialectician is someone who knows how to ask and to answer questions
[Plato]
|
13779
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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
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Soul causes the body to live, and gives it power to breathe and to be revitalized
[Plato]
|
13783
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Even the gods love play
[Plato]
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13785
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'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
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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
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A name-giver might misname something, then force other names to conform to it
[Plato]
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13791
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Things must be known before they are named, so it can't be the names that give us knowledge
[Plato]
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2063
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How can beauty have identity if it changes?
[Plato]
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13792
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There can't be any knowledge if things are constantly changing
[Plato]
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