Plato, Sophistes [The Sophist]

Kelsey Wood (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -350

Places

Ancient Greece (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Dialogue

Resources

Can we think the meaning of any being? Is it possible to adequately define the “whatness” of any entity, event, or activity? Plato’s Sophist, one of the greatest works in the history of philosophy, approaches the question of the meaning of being by disclosing the limits of human reason (logos). The Eleatic stranger ironically evokes both the possibilities and the limitations of logos by providing definitions according to genos (type). The stranger demonstrates that, because any category of disclosure essentially involves difference, the wholeness of any being eludes categorial analysis.

Interpretation o…

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2133 words

Citation: Wood, Kelsey. "Sophistes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 February 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13441, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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