Status Updates From Cratylus

“But…I have long been surprised at my own wisdom—and doubtful of it too. That’s why I think it’s necessary to keep reinvestigating whatever I say, since self-deception is the worst thing of all. How could it not be terrible, indeed, when the deceiver never deserts you even for an instant but is always right there with you? Therefore I think we have to turn back frequently to what we’ve already said”

Plato parodies the purveyors of wisdom who charge money—still relevant today:

“To be sure, if I’d attended Prodicus’ 50 drachma lecture course, which he himself advertises as as an exhaustive treatment of the topic, there’d be nothing to prevent you from learning the precise truth about the correctness of names straightaway. But as I’ve heard only the 1 drachma course, I don’t know the truth about it

Diosmioseñorsalvame