37 ideas
1553 | No perceptible object is truly straight or curved [Protagoras] |
1549 | Everything that exists consists in being perceived [Protagoras] |
1545 | Protagoras was the first to claim that there are two contradictory arguments about everything [Protagoras, by Diog. Laertius] |
1547 | Man is the measure of all things - of things that are, and of things that are not [Protagoras] |
3305 | There is no more purely metaphysical doctrine than Protagorean relativism [Benardete,JA on Protagoras] |
3313 | If my hot wind is your cold wind, then wind is neither hot nor cold, and so not as cold as itself [Benardete,JA on Protagoras] |
3317 | You can only state the problem of the relative warmth of an object by agreeing on the underlying object [Benardete,JA on Protagoras] |
247 | God is "the measure of all things", more than any man [Plato on Protagoras] |
606 | Protagoras absurdly thought that the knowing or perceiving man is 'the measure of all things' [Aristotle on Protagoras] |
612 | Relativists think if you poke your eye and see double, there must be two things [Aristotle on Protagoras] |
20289 | Ethics is universalisable - it must involve an impartial and universal view of things [Singer] |
20286 | Following an inner voice for morality is irresponsible in a rational agent [Singer] |
6016 | Early sophists thought convention improved nature; later they said nature was diminished by it [Protagoras, by Miller,FD] |
536 | We should follow the law in public, and nature in private [Antiphon] |
1557 | To gain the greatest advantage only treat law as important when other people are present [Antiphon] |
20282 | The sanctity of a human life depends either on being of our species, or on being a person [Singer] |
20278 | 'Marginal utility' says something is more useful if it is in short supply [Singer] |
1580 | For Protagoras the only bad behaviour is that which interferes with social harmony [Protagoras, by Roochnik] |
20281 | Why should I do anything for posterity? What has posterity ever done for me? [Singer] |
205 | Protagoras contradicts himself by saying virtue is teachable, but then that it is not knowledge [Plato on Protagoras] |
540 | The way you spend your time will form your character [Antiphon] |
20276 | Conflict of rules might be avoided by greater complexity, or by a hierarchy of rules [Singer] |
20290 | Psychopaths may just be bored, because they cannot participate in normal emotional life [Singer] |
20288 | You can't condemn violent revolution without assessing the evils it prevents [Singer] |
21997 | In Marxism the state will be superseded [Singer] |
539 | Nothing is worse for mankind than anarchy [Antiphon] |
20287 | If 49% of the population can be wrong, so can 51% [Singer] |
21993 | Materialist history says we are subject to incomprehensible forces [Singer] |
20277 | Equality of interests is a minimal principle, not implying equal treatment [Singer] |
20279 | Equality of opportunity unfairly rewards those lucky enough to have great ability [Singer] |
20285 | If a right entails having the relevant desire, many creatures might have no right to life [Singer] |
1659 | Protagoras seems to have made the huge move of separating punishment from revenge [Protagoras, by Vlastos] |
532 | Successful education must go deep into the soul [Protagoras] |
1552 | He spent public money on education, as it benefits the individual and the state [Protagoras, by Diodorus of Sicily] |
20284 | Why should a potential person have the rights of an actual person? [Singer] |
20283 | Killing a chimp is worse than killing a human too defective to be a person [Singer] |
1551 | He said he didn't know whether there are gods - but this is the same as atheism [Diogenes of Oen. on Protagoras] |