Full Idea
A name is a sort of tool.
Gist of Idea
A name is a sort of tool
Source
Plato (Cratylus [c.375 BCE], 388a)
Book Reference
Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.106
A Reaction
Idea 13775 gives a background for this metaphor, from earlier in the text. Wittgenstein has a famous toolkit metaphor for language. The whole of this text, 'Cratylus', is about names.
Related Idea
Idea 13775 We only succeed in cutting if we use appropriate tools, not if we approach it randomly [Plato]