Single Idea 606

[catalogued under 13. Knowledge Criteria / E. Relativism / 6. Relativism Critique]

Full Idea

When Protagoras quipped that man is the measure of all things, he had in mind, of course, the knowing or perceiving man. The grounds are that they have perception/knowledge, and these are said to be the measures of objects. Utter nonsense!

Gist of Idea

Protagoras absurdly thought that the knowing or perceiving man is 'the measure of all things'

Source

comment on Protagoras (fragments/reports [c.441 BCE]) by Aristotle - Metaphysics 1053b

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Metaphysics', ed/tr. Lawson-Tancred,Hugh [Penguin 1998], p.289