Plato is the master of speculative etymology. So are many post-ish thinkers: "Central for sexual difference theory is the insight that the root of the term materialism is mater. This implies that the material as the primary and constitutive site of origin of the subject, is also the instance that expresses the specificity of the female subject, and as such it needs to be thought out systematically." (Braidotti, Metamorphoses, p. 23) My biggest problem with this quote is the "this implies that...". Of course, sometimes looking at a word from a fresh point of view - e.g. noticing that a word is derived from another word or consists of several words - may shed some light on a particular usage of a word. It was once pointed out to me that the German word Beruf could be split into be-Ruf - thus linking 'work' with 'call' as in 'being called upon' - 'work as a calling'. But these kinds of points do not have the force of 'x implies y'.
Deriving mater from materialism adds some elegance to Braidotti's argument, of course, but the question remains whether the need to bring it up is not simply an instance of philosophical cosmetica.
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I am reading Cratylus at the moment, and it is nothing if not speculative etymology. Luckily Socrates has Homer and the gods to call upon for the correct (in the widest possible sense of the word) usage and history of words. We mere mortals may not be so lucky.
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