Cratylus by Plato audiobook.

Genre: philosophy

In Plato's Cratylus, Socrates is drawn into a lively dispute about one of philosophy's oldest puzzles: do words naturally fit the things they name, or are names simply agreed-upon conventions? Two opposing voices frame the debate. Cratylus insists that every true name is correct by nature and reveals the essence of what it names, while Hermogenes argues that naming is a matter of custom, no more than a social contract. With Socrates as guide, the conversation ranges from careful argument to playful, painstaking analyses of Greek words and divine names, testing whether etymology can uncover truth or merely invent it. As the discussion deepens, the stakes widen beyond language to knowledge itself: if names can mislead, how do we learn what anything really is, and what should we trust as a starting point for inquiry? At once comic and rigorous, Cratylus explores how speech, thought, and reality intertwine, offering a vivid introduction to Plato's concerns about meaning, change, and the search for stable understanding.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:38:12) Chapter 02

(01:12:56) Chapter 03

(01:48:21) Chapter 04

(02:15:47) Chapter 05

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