Aristotle, Protagoras, and Contradiction: Metaphysics Γ 4-6

Abstract

In both Metaphysics Γ 4 and 5 Aristotle argues that Protagoras is committed to the view that all contradictions are true. Yet Aristotle’s arguments are not transparent, and later, in Γ 6, he provides Protagoras with a way to escape contradictions. In this paper I try to understand Aristotle’s arguments. After examining a number of possible solutions, I conclude that the best way of explaining them is to (a) recognize that Aristotle is discussing a number of Protagorean opponents, and (b) import another of Protagoras’ views, namely the claim that there are always two logoi opposed to one another.

Keywords

• Aristotle
• logic
• non-contradiction
• Protagoras