Plato's late dialogue in which the Eleatic Stranger attempts to define the sophist — leading to a radical revision of Parmenidean metaphysics and an account of how false statements are possible.
How can false statements exist? Parmenides said non-being cannot be — but false statements attribute existence to what is not. Plato's solution: being and not-being are both real — not-being is difference, not absolute non-existence. This generates a sophisticated account of negation and the interrelation of Forms. One of Plato's most technically demanding dialogues.
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