Scholar whose detailed analysis of classical texts sustained his sense of wonder in philosophy “Man is the measure of all things: of things that are, that they are, and of things that are not, that they are not,” declared the Greek philosopher Protagoras in the late fifth century BC. What – apart from placing humans rather than the gods at the centre of the cosmos – does this assertion actually mean? Myles Burnyeat, who has died aged 80, showed how the close study of classical texts could be used as a platform for creative philosophical endeavour. Protagoras’ observation is usually called the Man/Measure (M/M) doctrine, though a better translation would frame it in terms of humankind. Does humanity as a whole decide what is (true), or each individual human? And if the latter, does the individual decide what is absolutely true, or only what is true relatively to her or him? Continue reading...
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