Money and Exchange in Plato’s <i>Sophist</i> : reading <b>ἕτερον</b> after Derrida

Abstract This article explores the role of money in Plato’s Sophist in light of Jacques Derrida’s essay ‘On the “Priceless” or the “Going Rate” of the Transaction’. I argue that money plays a more significant role in Plato’s thinking than has previously been acknowledged. Though Plato would like to present money-making as a contemptible activity, money also provides the basis upon which he develops his more abstract ideas. I trace the role of money from the beginning of the dialogue through to the account of Non-being that is developed towards the dialogue’s end. I also analyse the role of the term ἕτερον within this account. I argue that this term poses irreducible problems for translation: for, in the Sophist, Plato develops two incompatible notions of ‘otherness’. On my reading, these two notions of ‘otherness’ are more closely related than Plato would have us believe. My reading of ἕτερον provides us with a frame through which to read Plato’s ontological account. It encourages us to attend to the role played by notions taken from the realm of exchange. I show how these notions underlie Plato’s thinking of Non-being. Money thus plays a more determining role in Plato’s thought than he lets on.