Ambiguity and Fallacy in Plato's Euthydemus

This paper examines the way in which Plato, in the Euthydemus, exposes sophistical refutations that exploit various forms of linguistic ambiguity. In arguing that Plato is capable of doing this, the argument of this paper challenges a common view according to which Plato lacks the technical resources necessary to diagnose fallacious arguments that turn on ambiguity. I argue instead that Plato has a much more robust sensitivity to ambiguity and its pernicious effects on philosophical arguments than has been recognized, that he has at his disposal various strategies for exposing the eristic refutations that exploit linguistic ambiguity as merely apparent refutations, and that Plato's treatment of these arguments laid important groundwork for Aristotle’s understanding of genuine refutation in the Sophistici Elenchi.