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Background
Background
Protagoras (c. 490 BC - c. 420 BC) was born in Abdera. He was (according to a later philosopher called Plato) a professional Sophist - someone who was paid to teach people how to speak cleverly. This was a skill that was very useful for politicians and people who wanted to become powerful. Some philosophers didn’t like the Sophists much because they thought they cared more about making money than about the truth.
Location of Abdera and its two successive metropolises, Clazomenae and Teos.
By No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54704Relativism
Relativism
It is traditionally believed that Protagoras was a relativist. That is, he believed that the truth of a statement is relative to whoever speaks or believes it.
Two closely related ideas are objectivity and subjectivity:
Objective: (of a person or their judgement) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. True always, everywhere and for everyone.
Subjective: Based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. Dependent on the mind or on an individual's perception for its existence.
An outline of the argument for Protagoras’ views
An outline of the argument for Protagoras’ views
Protagoras famously said that…
Of all things the measure is man, of the things that are, that they are, and of things that are not, that they are not.
Usually, the argument runs something like this:
It is a spring day in Valencia.
A visitor from Reykjavik in Iceland says the weather is warm.
A visitor from Delhi in India Says the weather is cold.
Both People are speaking the truth.
The truth depends on perspective and is therefore relative.
∴ Man (sic.) is the measure of all things.
Discussion:
Discussion:
Does this view apply to all things? What about maths? is it a mater of opinion whether 1+1=2?
Is it a matter of opinion whether it is hotter in Delhi than Reykjavik?
Tasks
Tasks
Explain Protagoras’ argument.
Give one objection to this argument.
Do you think that there is such a thing as objective truth?
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