Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
10
Artykuły/Articles
Althoughitisratherdifficulttodiscussphilosophyoflanguageas
suchbeforethe20thcenturylinguisticturn,itwouldbeahuge
wastenottoconsideratallthephilosophicalapproachtothesub-
jectsoflanguage,signsandmeaning,orcommunicationbeforethat
time.Names,signs,andnotions,ascrucialtoolsofphilosophy,are
notirrelevantforthemostimportantstatementsinphilosophical
theoriesandsystems.IassumethattoreconstructPlato’sconception
ofbeing,itisnecessarytoreconstructhisconceptionoflanguage.
TheCratylus—theonlydialogueofPlatoinwhichthequestions
aboutlanguageareaskedopenly—isobviouslythestartingpointof
reconstruction,butIdecidedtousesomequotationsfromGorgias,
Respublica,Parmenides,Sophist,Theaetetus,Timaeus,Philebusand
VIILetterastheclues,aswell.IarguethatPlato’sthesisonlan-
guageiscoherentwithhisontology,whichIwilltrytoprovewhile
exploringtheimportanceofthesubjectofpropermeasureinhis
work.
TheproblemofPlato’sthoughtsonlanguageisnotapopularor
commonsubjectofacademicresearch.1Languageisobviouslyconsid-
eredwhentheCratylusisputunderscrutiny.Thetopicoftheimpor-
tanceoflanguageinPlato’sphilosophyhasbeenstudiedmostlyby
Germanscholarsforthelastcentury,andwhiletheconceptof
SprachphilosophieisanimportantpartofGaiser’sinterpretation2
andseveralimportantstudiesonCratylushavebeenpublished
(mostlyinGerman)onthatsubject,3makingtheconnectionbetween
linguisticsandontologyinthereadingofPlato’sdialoguesisstill
veryscarce.4OnecannoticethattheinterestinPlato’sCratyluswas
1Forexample,inPlato.CriticalAssessmenttherenochapterorarticlethat
mentionsthissubject.SeePlato.CriticalAssessments.Ed.N.D.Smith.Vol.I—IV.
London—NewYork1998.
2K.Gaiser:NameundSacheinPlatons„Kratylos.”Heidelberg1974.
3Mainstudiesonthatsubjectareratheroldbutstillimportant,asIassume.
See,forexample,I.Abramczyk:PlatonsDialog„Kratylos”unddasProblemder
Sprachphilosophie.Breslau1928;K.Büchner:PlatonsKratylosunddiemodern
Sprachphilosophie.Berlin1936;J.Derbolav:DerDialog„Kratylos”imRahmender
platonischenSprach-undErkenntnisphilosophie.Saarbrücken1953;J.Deuschle:
DieplatonischeSprachphilosophie.Marburg1852;K.Lorentz,J.Mittelstrass:On
RationalPhilosophyofLanguage:ThePrograminPlato’s„Cratylus”Reconsidered.
flMind”76(1967),pp.1—20;A.Paglioro:Strutturaepensierodel„Cratilo”diPlato-
ne.In:Idem:NuoviSaggidiCriticaSemanica.Messina—Firenze1956,pp.47—76;
M.Richardson:TrueandFalseNamesinthe„Cratylus.”flPhronesis”21(1976),no2,
pp.135—145.
4TheimportantexceptiontothatruleistheworkbyKahn.SeeC.H.Kahn:
LanguageandOntologyintheCratylus.In:ExegesisandArgument.Studiesin
GreekPhilosophypresentedtoGregoryVlastos.flPhronesis.”Supp.Vol.I.Assen1973,
