Cratylus (ancient Greek: Κρατύλος, Kratylos) was an ancient Athenian philosopher from the late 5th century BCE, mostly known through his portrayal in Plato's dialogue Cratylus.
Little is known of Cratylus beyond his status as a disciple of Heraclitus of Ephesus, Asia Minor. In his eponymous Platonic dialogue, the character of Cratylus preserves Heraclitus' proclamation that one cannot step twice into the same stream. According to Aristotle's Meta...
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Cratylus (ancient Greek: Κρατύλος, Kratylos) was an ancient Athenian philosopher from the late 5th century BCE, mostly known through his portrayal in Plato's dialogue Cratylus.
Little is known of Cratylus beyond his status as a disciple of Heraclitus of Ephesus, Asia Minor. In his eponymous Platonic dialogue, the character of Cratylus preserves Heraclitus' proclamation that one cannot step twice into the same stream. According to Aristotle's Metaphysics, Cratylus went a step beyond his master's doctrine and proclaimed that it cannot even be done once.
If the world was in such constant flux that streams could change instantaneously, then so could words. Thus, Cratylus found communication to be impossible without exactly defined words. As depicted in the Cratylus, he argued that advanced communication needs etymology and modern scientific definitions. As a result of this realization, Cratylus renounced his power of speech and limited his communication to moving his finger, as a mere...
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