The Hi, I'm Peter Adamson, and you're listening to the History of Philosophy podcast, brought to

you with the support of Kings College London and the Lever Hume Trust, online at

W.W.

Today's episode, I Know Because the Caged Bird sings, Plato's the Itetus.

Those of you who spend time with children will know that between the adults and the children

of this world, a war is raging.

Skirmishes in this war are fought across the land every morning and both sides use all the weapons at their disposal

tantrums the silent treatment withheld treats even in extreme cases naughty step. I am speaking of course about the question of how

warmly to dress. The children's perspective on this issue is well entrenched. It is not nearly

as cold outside as you parents would claim, and we aren't going to wear that winter coat, though we may be willing to consider a light sweater.

The parents' point of view is equally firm. You'll catch your death of cold. Now, I guess that most of the people listening to this podcast are above the age of 12, and so naturally favored the adult perspective. There is, we quite naturally think, a fact of the matter about how cold it is outside.

Just look at the thermometer.

Yet the children can turn to us and say,

but I don't feel cold, so for me it isn't cold and they've got a point

albeit a point which is undermined slightly when they start shivering even as they're insisting on how

warm it is the point is that it is for each person to say how cold the air feels to them.

You might even say that whatever the temperature may be,

the air's being cold is nothing more than the air is seeming cold to each of us. This prompts an

unsettling thought. It's not implausible that the air is really neither cold nor

hot in itself, but is cold for you and warm for me. I grew up in Boston, so I'm made of tougher stuff than you are.

And we can think of other cases. Most of us have been in disputes about whether a certain piece of clothing is blue or green,

and maybe it is just green for one person blue

...