Cratyle

Summary

Dominique Pagani mentions Cratylus briefly and repeatedly, from 2015 to 2021, always with the same image: the disciple of Heraclitus who, convinced that everything flows, ends up falling silent and merely pointing at things with his finger1. He takes him as the model of the consistent sceptic, who follows his position through to its conclusions: since nothing endures, speech loses its hold and only the gesture of the index finger remains2. He also presents him as the height of empiricism3 and counts him among the rare consistent empiricists, for whom empiricism leads logically to scepticism and then to silence4. Elsewhere he calls him an absolute sceptic5. Finally, he notes that nothing of his survives but hearsay, which fits with this silence6. The image recurs in varied contexts (Hegel, music, Nerval, amnesia) as a reference point for thinking about the limits of empiricism and scepticism.

1. 1#1 Bien-et Mé-faits de l'amnésie...8 Oct 2020 · 1:01:57
2. 2#1.8 Entre crise et guerre : Philosopher ?28 Jan 2016 · 11:56
3. 3#1.4 Entre crise et guerre : Philosopher ?10 Dec 2015 · 53:54
4. 4Musicosophie 18. Ce qui est musical dans la musique25 Mar 2021 · 1:14:31
5. 5Hegel Plage 3/52 Feb 2016 · 1:23:39
6. 6Adamov (Arthur)18 Feb 2016 · 1:36

Summary produced automatically from 7 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.