Full Idea
Is the being or essence of each of the things that are something private to each person, as Protagoras tells us?
Gist of Idea
Is the being or essence of each thing private to each person?
Source
Plato (Cratylus [c.375 BCE], 385e)
Book Reference
Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.103
A Reaction
This kind of drastic personal relativism about essences doesn't sound very plausible, but the idea that essences are private to each culture, or to each language, must certainly be taken seriously.