10/25 Moser and Carson, pp. 13-14; Plato, Theaetetus 152a-e, 169c-172c; Bernstein p. 234 n. 18; Heidegger, Nietzsche vol. 3, pp. 25-28.

Theme: Is moral relativism self-refuting?

1. How does Socrates illustrate Protagoras’ claim that “Man is the measure of all things” using the perception of temperature? And how does he later distinguish perceptions of temperature, sweetness, etc., from moral claims and other sorts of factual claims?

2. According to Socrates, why does Protagoras have to dispute his own claim that man is the measure of all things?

3. According to Heidegger, how does the argument that relativism is self-refuting backfire?