In this Book
- Plato's Cratylus: The Comedy of Language
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Indiana University Press
- Series: Studies in Continental Thought
summary
Plato's dialogue Cratylus focuses on being and human dependence on words, or the essential truths about the human condition. Arguing that comedy is an essential part of Plato's concept of language, S. Montgomery Ewegen asserts that understanding the comedic is key to an understanding of Plato's deeper philosophical intentions. Ewegen shows how Plato's view of language is bound to comedy through words and how, for Plato, philosophy has much in common with playfulness and the ridiculous. By tying words, language, and our often uneasy relationship with them to comedy, Ewegen frames a new reading of this notable Platonic dialogue.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xiii-xiv
- Note on Translation
- pp. xv-xvi
- List of Textual Abbreviation
- pp. xvii-xviii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-16
- 1. First Words
- pp. 17-29
- 2. Marking the Limits
- pp. 30-49
- 3. A Question of Inheritance
- pp. 50-58
- 4. The Nature of Nature
- pp. 59-74
- 5. Technological Language
- pp. 75-97
- 6. A Homeric Inheritance
- pp. 98-120
- 7. What Words Will
- pp. 121-154
- 8. The Tragedy of Cratylus
- pp. 155-181
- Conclusion: The Comedy of the Cratylus
- pp. 182-190
- Bibliography
- pp. 219-222
Additional Information
ISBN
9780253010513
Related ISBN(s)
9780253010445
MARC Record
OCLC
861082076
Pages
256
Launched on MUSE
2014-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No