ABSTRACT
The opposition between nature and culture has a long history in western thought. Among other sources it can be found in classical philosophy. Plato's dialogue the Crarylus is concerned with the relationship between words and things: Cratylus advances the thesis that language accurately reflects the world because words represent the essential nature of things. That is, there is a natural relationship between words and what those words represent. In contrast, Hermogenes argues that names are merely the result of convention and agreement: there is no necessary relationship between words and the objects named in language. The dialogue starts with Socrates questioning Hermogenes' claims for the absolute conventionality of language. The latter had expressed his views thus:
I. .. cannot convince myself that there is any principle of correctness in names other than convention and agreement; any name which you give, in my opinion, is the right one, and if you change that and give another, the new name is as correct as the old ... for there is no name given to anything by nature; all is convention and habit of the users?
