Prof. Casey Perin: Plato Against Relativism

From the University of California in Irvine, Professor Casey Perin presents, "Plato Against Relativism" Abstract: Protagoras is supposed to be some sort of relativist, but what sort of relativist is he supposed to be? What is the best way to formulate the relativism he endorses? Is Protagoras' relativism restricted to certain domains? What exactly is Protagoras a relativist about? After sketching answers to these questions, I turn to Plato's principal arguments against Protagoras' relativism. First, Plato claims that relativism precludes expertise: if relativism is true, there are no experts about anything. Second, Plato argues that Protagoras' relativism is true only if we inhabit (as, Plato thinks, we clearly do not) a world of total instability or flux in which language as we know it is impossible. Third, and regardless of the merits of the first two arguments, relativism is self-refuting. Finally, I consider whether Protagoras' relativism can be revised in a way that makes it immune to some or all of Plato's objections.