Man The Measure

The finding truth has always been significant topic to think in the philosophical history. The questions were like whether good can be found or not. Also if the good could be changed by conditions or people. Even the great philosophers have not been able to find only one answer to this question so that is why actually important issue for philosophy. There were a lot of thinkers who have different ideas and various approaches in the past. Shall we think that all their ideas were unacceptable because there should be only one truth? The theory of Protagoras is that if something appears to someone as that is the case, it would be true for that person. That means human himself is the measure of all things. His theory is naturally logical because there are reasons that prove there could not be only one truth for everyone nor for any situation. These are for instance, firstly the personality differences lead by character and also past experiences, and secondly the living in different conditions and culture that human beings are in. It is obvious that there can be different views of people as thinking something is good or not in this world. Humans should live with knowing this and respecting others’ opinions in the light of the issue. That could be the truth where people should live in real peace.

Protagoras claims that “Man is the measure of all things, of things that are that they are, and of things that are not that they are not” (14). Firstly, it means that everybody could have their own opinions which are considered as true for themselves. The measure of goodness in the things is only human view. It seems reasonable, because this world is the special habitat for human beings. Every living creature such as animals in the world instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but it is like only human control over their environment instead of being submission. They can change the conditions for themselves instead of getting used to nature by time. Therefore, human beings could not be counted as passive in the rules of goodness either, but creating their own opinions lead their ideas about the goodness. The trial of making every person being in same shape would never work in this world condition, because characteristics of each one would shape their own ideas on what is good or not. The relativism of nature would cause that humans would become different from each other.

Firstly, it is known that people could have different personalities in this world. Some of them could be brave, some could not be. Some of them could be happy with small things; some could never be with big things. It would be also counted as different view creating for good and beneficial opinion for every one. Some people would be happy with getting material gaining for this world, as some other people would be happy with true love which is not material, but spiritual. Their conception of the world could be completely different because of that. They should respect other ones’ opinions for this world as knowing they are true in their own ways. That is relativity of human beings and their views for this world and the conception of good or bad, beneficial or not beneficial. That comes from the character of human beings. When it is known that a person could have same natural features as any human has, but also it is known that each person would naturally have their own personality. They are also the measure for themselves, it means each opinion of human beings could be different, but they can be accepted as true at the same time.

On the other hand, The life of every human being has different features and is in various life experiences, like the lands and their climates could be all different from each other; they would have their different own past experiences in their lives by their experiences as well. It can also make a person has different personality. There is a term in psychology science about that a person could have some problem mentally because of their own past experiences. It is said that if there would be problematic things in their childhood, they would have different personality even because of that. It would mean that a person can have different view for the good by their personality which shaped by past experiences, too.

The conditions of human being would also cause the good idea of theirs changing at the times, As Protagoras says that “But I do know many things which are unbeneficial for men – foods and drinks and drugs and countless others – but are still beneficial, and some which are neither beneficial nor unbeneficial for men, but are beneficial for horses; some only for oxen, and others for dogs” (16). There are examples which can be good for some because of the conditions a person in, but they could be considered as not good for another condition at the same time, because the situations can change the perception of a person. They would change the perspective of human beings for the world; same people would have different opinions just because of their conditions would be changed.

These examples show clearly that the condition which human beings are in should be considered as the fact for perception of good or beneficial by the times. There is one sentence could be fit to this issue. In Africa, when the water could be more in winter times, fishes eat ants because of the flooding, when the water could be less in summer times, ants would eat fishes because of the dryness. It means that one situation could be good for one, but not same good for another. When flooding could be good for fishes, it is bad for ants as when dryness could be good for ants, but not for fishes. The conditions of this world could make some people get benefit from something, but could not make other ones get same benefit from same thing at the same time as it could be even bad for them. Therefore, the idea of goodness could be changed by the person who has different conditions as the conditions would lead a person how to be in this world even.

Furthermore, it would be difference in the same circumstance even by time spending from history to modern times and from one culture to another. There can be good as an idea for history and unlike today’s one. There is good law in history science, people should think about the events by looking into when it was happened, because otherwise they can get wrong the events and results with thinking today’s world condition. When a thing could be good in our culture, it would be bad in another at the same time or the opposite is possible. There is an example for that; it is known that virginity of women is important in Turkey in the world to be kept till the marriage or like that. However, in one country called Guam, the virginity of women is obstacle to be kept till the marriage, because the virgins could not be married in their culture. Therefore, the good perception could be changed by the culture a person in.

In conclusion, the nature of world shows us that the perception of the good has many different types inside of it. There could never be as one model which is thought as true for everyone. Every person could have their own truth view by their own characteristics and experiences, also by their conditions and culture. The ideas should not be thought as wrong because of their unknown conditions which lead they can do what is beneficial for them, because the case is true for them. When we put all things in same, it shows that human is the measure of all things. It would mean that there could not be only one true for every one, but there can be accepted true thing for each one which is already decided as a good by their own personality and their conditions.

Works Cited

Dillon, John and Tania Louise Gergel, Comp. The Greek Sophists. London: Penguin, 2003.