Plato

This chapter begins with Plato’s account of stasis during the transition to the democratic soul in Republic Book VIII, illustrating the centrality of transvaluations. It then reassesses Thrasymachus’ famous account of justice in Republic I, showing how a sceptical view of language is central to his case. The chapter then addresses the treatments of language and stasis in Plato’s Statesman and Laws , before finishing with his use of paradiastole as a dialogic device in his Philebus . The chapter shows how varied and important Plato’s reflections on language and stasis were, and how deeply they interacted with fifth-century historiography and rhetoric.