Der Sophist als mimêtês tôn ontôn (Sph. 235a1 f. ). Ontologische Implikationen

This paper aims to show how the expression μιμητὴς τῶν ὄντων plays a fun‐ damental role in relation to the overall structure of Plato’s Sophist. Through this definition of the sophist, the issue of the nature of falsehood is effectively introduced. What does “imitator of real things” exactly mean? The sophist is considered as an illusionist and a deceiver: he produces φαντάσματα and εἴδωλα. On the contrary, the philosopher knows the authentic nature of reality in its structure and intertwining (συμπλοκή). Both the sophist and the philosopher use the logos as their specific instrument: but the sophist uses it in a deceptive way in order to persuade his own audience and perform his ‘deceptive artʼ (ἀπατητικὴ τέχνη); instead, the philosopher uses it to describe the real nature of being. Therefore, in the Sophist the analysis of the structure of logos becomes central: indeed, according to the Platonic perspective, there is an essential correspondence between the structure of logos and the structure of reality.