Introduction

Are names correct by nature or merely by convention? Cratylus holds that every thing has a name that is naturally right for it; Hermogenes holds that names are only what people agree on. Socrates examines both views, offering with evident delight a long series of etymologies for the names of gods and virtues, and concluding soberly that we cannot come to know things through their names alone. The Cratylus is the first Western treatise on the philosophy of language and remains a classic text for linguists and philosophers alike.