Faculty Lunch Talk: Peter Moore

The spectre of the sophist Protagoras plays a central role in Plato’s Theaetetus, with Plato devoting the greatest share of the dialogue to examining and attempting to refute, the sophist’s dictum that “man is the measure of all things; of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not.” Although the dialogue’s central aim is to discover a definition of knowledge, Protagoras’ dictum is treated as equivalent to the first proposed definition of knowledge, viz., “knowledge is perception.” In their articulation of Protagoras’ dictum, Socrates and the young Theaetetus entertain a metaphysical doctrine—the doctrine of “flux,” attributed to Heraclitus—that undergirds perception. Crucially, the doctrine of flux denies that anything has a stable identity, so that even the most basic attributions of identity—by means of words such as “this” and “that”—become impossible. Inasmuch as Buddhists might recognize in this view something close to “dependent origination,” the purpose of this talk is to examine the extent to which the Protagorean dictum “man is the measure” corresponds to the notion of “dependent origination,” particularly as it has been represented in Waldron’s Making Sense of Mind Only.

About the Speaker 

DRBU Professor Peter Moore holds a PhD in Ancient Greek philosophy with a specialization in the moral and political philosophy in Plato’s Republic. His recent research projects deal with Euclid’s Elements and the role of ancient Greek mathematics in Plato’s philosophy. Having also long been involved in the practice and study of Buddhism, he is interested in exploring affinities between the ethics and ontology of Buddhism and ancient Greek philosophy.

Location

Dharma Realm Buddhist University,1991 Virtue Way, Ukiah, CA, Downstairs Student Lounge.