Plato and the MEΓIΣTA ΓENH of the Sophist: A Reinterpretation

Abstract

It is important to recognize that the problem dealt with by Plato in the central part of the Sophist (232 b–264 d) is one which arises from the use of certain Greek phrases, and has no necessary or direct connexion with metaphysics (although the solution of it which Plato offers has an important bearing on the defence of his own metaphysical theory against one particular kind of attack). We tend to obscure this fact if we use English terms such as ‘Being’, ‘Reality’, ‘Existence’, etc., in discussing the dialogue, and indeed make it almost impossible to understand what Plato is trying to do. It is the way in which die Greek terms ỗν and μή ỗν and other such terms are used by the ‘sophists’ which gives rise to the problem.