Dialogue On The Sophist, Session 3: The Forms In A Harmony Of Difference

Our dialogue on the Sophist concluded on April 3, 2022 when participants from the Toronto Philosophy and Calgary Philosophy Meetup groups considered the changing use of language in the communication of a shared reality, both in relation to Plato’s theory of forms and the assertion of Parmenides that “that which is not”, on its own, is both unthinkable and unspeakable. In the conclusion of The Sophist, the Visitor from Elea asserts that “is not” simply means something “different” from “that which is” and therefore in reality there can be many differences but ultimately only one form of existence without negation. The Visitor asks how the sophist – who makes money by dispensing what he claims to be knowledge – can justify the separation of each thing that exists, together with its negation, without the necessity of combining all of Being in a logical harmony. It is the failure to bring existence into a reasoned unity that allows the sophist and his followers to believe that “everything is” and therefore falsity does not exist. But of course we know that there is falsity, and where there is falsity, the Visitor says, there is deception. One participant pointed out that when language is our only means to communicate knowledge, either in thought or in speech, uncertainty of meaning and therefore the potential of falsity arises when the words leave us with a wide range for interpretation. Other participants highlighted the benefit of expression in terms that are relevant to the listener, and the necessity for objects of speech to be both classified and related to each other. We considered the logical harmony of the five most important forms and their differing capacities in combination, that the Visitor sets out as our best defence against sophistry, and the host presented his definition of “the forms” for further consideration. We will continue to explore the nature of the forms and the other themes of The Sophist in our next meeting, in three weeks, when we begin to examine its sequel The Statesman and the sophistry that is practised by demagogues to maintain their rule over others. With the increasing prevalence of demagoguery in recent decades, and technological challenges to our understanding of reality, we may well find some very relevant and practical wisdom in the words that Plato wrote nearly 2,400 years ago.