ABSTRACT
The Statesman begins with Socrates thanking Theodorus for introducing him to the Stranger and Theaetetus. The Statesman nonetheless emphasizes the activity of naming realities, and it may be observed that such naming is also one way to approach questions arising from the classic metaphysical issue of participation. This brief introductory exchange locates the question of value squarely within the horizon of dialectical discourse. The Stranger asserts that their conversation concerning the philosopher and statesman must not cease until they have reached "the end" of the matter, a termination which, as it happens, will take considerable time and collective energy. The philosophical dimension of language is not a topic immediately imposing itself on the student of the Statesman but its presence is virtually constant, subtle and metaphysically incisive. The Stranger refers to the concluding steps of a series of divisions, highlighting humans as bipeds and pigs as quadrupeds, assayed in pursuing a definition of the statesman.
