THEAETETUS [12]
he, or has any superior right
to determine whether his opinion is true or false, but each, as we
have several times repeated, is to himself the sole judge, and
everything that he judges is true and right, why, my friend, should
Protagoras be preferred to the place of wisdom and instruction, and
deserve to be well paid, and we poor ignoramuses have to go to him, if
each one is the measure of his own wisdom? Must he not be talking ad
captandum in all this? I say nothing of the ridiculous predicament
in which my own midwifery and the whole art of dialectic is placed;
for the attempt to supervise or refute the notions or opinions of
others would be a tedious and enormous piece of folly, if to each
man his own are right; and this must be the case if Protagoras Truth
is the real truth, and the philosopher is not merely amusing himself
by giving oracles out of the shrine of his book.
Theod. He was a friend of mine, Socrates, as you were saying, and
therefore I cannot have him refuted by my lips, nor can I oppose you
when I agree with you; please, then, to take Theaetetus again; he
seemed to answer very nicely.
Soc. If you were to go into a Lacedaemonian palestra, Theodorus,
would you have a right to look on at the naked wrestlers, some of them
making a poor figure, if you did not strip and give them an
opportunity of judging of your own person?
Theod. Why not, Socrates, if they would allow me, as I think you
will in consideration of my age and stiffness; let some more supple
youth try a fall with you, and do not drag me into the gymnasium.
Soc. Your will is my will, Theodorus, as the proverbial philosophers
say, and therefore I will return to the sage Theaetetus: Tell me,
Theaetetus, in reference to what I was saying, are you not lost in
wonder, like myself, when you find that all of a sudden you are raised
to the level of the wisest of men, or indeed of the gods?-for you
would assume the measure of Protagoras to apply to the gods as well as
men?
Theaet. Certainly I should, and I confess to you that I am lost in
wonder. At first hearing, I was quite satisfied with the doctrine,
that whatever appears is to each one, but now the face of things has
changed.
Soc. Why, my dear boy, you are young, and therefore your ear is
quickly caught and your mind influenced by popular arguments.
Protagoras, or some one speaking on his behalf, will doubtless say
in reply, good people, young and old, you meet and harangue, and bring
in the gods, whose existence of non-existence I banish from writing
and speech, or you talk about the reason of man being degraded to
the level of the brutes, which is a telling argument with the
multitude, but not one word of proof or demonstration do you offer.
All is probability with you, and yet surely you and Theodorus had
better reflect whether you are disposed to admit of probability and
figures of speech in matters of such importance. He or any other
mathematician who argued from probabilities and likelihoods in
geometry, would not be worth an ace.
Theaet. But neither you nor we, Socrates, would be satisfied with
such arguments.
Soc. Then you and Theodorus mean to say that we must look at the
matter in some other way?
Theaet. Yes, in quite another way.
Soc. And the way will be to ask whether perception is or is not
the same as knowledge; for this was the real point of our argument,
and with a view to this we raised (did we not?) those many strange
questions.
Theaet. Certainly.
Soc. Shall we say that we know every thing which we see and hear?
for example, shall we say that not having learned, we do not hear
the language of foreigners when they speak to us? or shall we say that
we not only hear, but know what they are saying? Or again, if we see
letters which we do not understand, shall we say that we do not see
them? or shall we aver that, seeing them, we must know them?
Theaet. We shall say, Socrates, that we know what we actually see
and hear of them-that
to determine whether his opinion is true or false, but each, as we
have several times repeated, is to himself the sole judge, and
everything that he judges is true and right, why, my friend, should
Protagoras be preferred to the place of wisdom and instruction, and
deserve to be well paid, and we poor ignoramuses have to go to him, if
each one is the measure of his own wisdom? Must he not be talking ad
captandum in all this? I say nothing of the ridiculous predicament
in which my own midwifery and the whole art of dialectic is placed;
for the attempt to supervise or refute the notions or opinions of
others would be a tedious and enormous piece of folly, if to each
man his own are right; and this must be the case if Protagoras Truth
is the real truth, and the philosopher is not merely amusing himself
by giving oracles out of the shrine of his book.
Theod. He was a friend of mine, Socrates, as you were saying, and
therefore I cannot have him refuted by my lips, nor can I oppose you
when I agree with you; please, then, to take Theaetetus again; he
seemed to answer very nicely.
Soc. If you were to go into a Lacedaemonian palestra, Theodorus,
would you have a right to look on at the naked wrestlers, some of them
making a poor figure, if you did not strip and give them an
opportunity of judging of your own person?
Theod. Why not, Socrates, if they would allow me, as I think you
will in consideration of my age and stiffness; let some more supple
youth try a fall with you, and do not drag me into the gymnasium.
Soc. Your will is my will, Theodorus, as the proverbial philosophers
say, and therefore I will return to the sage Theaetetus: Tell me,
Theaetetus, in reference to what I was saying, are you not lost in
wonder, like myself, when you find that all of a sudden you are raised
to the level of the wisest of men, or indeed of the gods?-for you
would assume the measure of Protagoras to apply to the gods as well as
men?
Theaet. Certainly I should, and I confess to you that I am lost in
wonder. At first hearing, I was quite satisfied with the doctrine,
that whatever appears is to each one, but now the face of things has
changed.
Soc. Why, my dear boy, you are young, and therefore your ear is
quickly caught and your mind influenced by popular arguments.
Protagoras, or some one speaking on his behalf, will doubtless say
in reply, good people, young and old, you meet and harangue, and bring
in the gods, whose existence of non-existence I banish from writing
and speech, or you talk about the reason of man being degraded to
the level of the brutes, which is a telling argument with the
multitude, but not one word of proof or demonstration do you offer.
All is probability with you, and yet surely you and Theodorus had
better reflect whether you are disposed to admit of probability and
figures of speech in matters of such importance. He or any other
mathematician who argued from probabilities and likelihoods in
geometry, would not be worth an ace.
Theaet. But neither you nor we, Socrates, would be satisfied with
such arguments.
Soc. Then you and Theodorus mean to say that we must look at the
matter in some other way?
Theaet. Yes, in quite another way.
Soc. And the way will be to ask whether perception is or is not
the same as knowledge; for this was the real point of our argument,
and with a view to this we raised (did we not?) those many strange
questions.
Theaet. Certainly.
Soc. Shall we say that we know every thing which we see and hear?
for example, shall we say that not having learned, we do not hear
the language of foreigners when they speak to us? or shall we say that
we not only hear, but know what they are saying? Or again, if we see
letters which we do not understand, shall we say that we do not see
them? or shall we aver that, seeing them, we must know them?
Theaet. We shall say, Socrates, that we know what we actually see
and hear of them-that