Editing Protagoras (section)

{{Short description|Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (c.490–c.420 BC)}}
{{other uses}}{{Distinguish|Pythagoras}}{{Infobox philosopher
| region           = [[Western philosophy]]
| era              = [[Pre-Socratic philosophy]]
| image       = [[File:Ribera - Protagoras, 1637.jpg|250px]]
| caption     = ''Protagoras'' by [[Jusepe de Ribera]], 1637
| name             = Protagoras
| birth_place       = [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]]
| birth_date       = {{circa|490 BC}}
| death_date       = {{circa|420 BC}} (aged c. 70)
| school_tradition = [[Sophism]]
| main_interests   = [[Language]], [[semantics]], [[relativism]], [[rhetoric]], [[agnosticism]], [[ethics]]
}}

'''Protagoras''' ({{IPAc-en|p|r|əʊ|ˈ|t|æ|g|ər|ə|s|,_|-|æ|s}} {{respell|proh|TAG|ər|əs|,_-|ass}}; {{langx|el|Πρωταγόρας}}; {{circa|490 BC|420 BC}})<ref name=Guthriedate>Guthrie, p. 262–263.</ref> was a [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|pre-Socratic]] [[Ancient Greeks|Greek]] [[philosopher]] and [[rhetoric]]al theorist. He is numbered as one of the [[sophist]]s by [[Plato]]. In his dialogue ''[[Protagoras (dialogue)|Protagoras]]'', Plato credits him with inventing the role of the professional sophist.

Protagoras is also believed to have created a major controversy during ancient times through his statement that "Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not" which was usually rendered simply as "Man is the measure of all things," interpreted (possibly wrongly, since he disagreed) by Plato to mean that there is no [[Objectivity (philosophy)|objective truth]]; Protagoras seems to have meant that each person's own personal history, experiences and expectations, developed over their lifetime, determine their judgments, opinions, and statements regarding "truth" (which is the title of the book in which Protagoras made this statement). When a person makes a judgment about a certain thing—good or bad or beautiful or unjust—that person will differ from other people's judgments because their experience has been different.<ref>Jaap Mansfeld, article on "Protagoras," p. 44-46, in Heft 44 (1981; Steiner: Wiesbaden) of the journal Hermes, ed. B. Kerferd, The Sophists and Their Legacy: Proceedings of the Fourth International Colloquium on Ancient Philosophy. Held in Cooperation with Projektgruppe Altertumswissenschaften Der Thyssen Stiftung at Bad Homburg, 29th August - 1st September 1979. {{ISBN|9783515034272}}</ref>

This concept of [[individual]] [[Relativism|relativity]] was intended to be provocative; naturally, it was criticized by Plato and other philosophers, contrasting with both popular opinion and other philosophical doctrine that [[reality]] and its [[truth]] must have an objective [[Grounding (metaphysics)|grounding]]. But it was part of Protagoras' point that the statement is somewhat counterintuitive. He argued that believing that others' opinions about the world are valid and must be respected, even if our own experience of truth is different, is necessary for a community to base itself and its decisions on open, democratic debate.<ref>Bonazzi, Mauro, "Protagoras", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2020/entries/protagoras/>.</ref>