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Is that how native speakers understand this proverb? I always assumed "a good man" here is synonymous with "a good human", because that's how if goes in my lang
by taway1237 3y ago
Is that how native speakers understand this proverb? I always assumed "a good man" here is synonymous with "a good human", because that's how if goes in my language, and because it's the only way this makes sense.
- HL33tibCe7 3y agoI’m a native speaker and interpret “man” in this context as definitely male, and I’d be very surprised if any other native speakers disagreed with that. I think it’s because “a good man” is quantified by the indefinite article “a”. Whereas “man” in a sentence without that qualification, e.g. “one small step for man” I would not interpret the same way. So, “a man” = a male human, “man” = maybe a male human, maybe any human.
- louistsi 3y agoI definitely disagree given that Marcus Aurelius was writing in an era where "man" in the written word was synonymous with "human", in any context. If you or I said "man" in this time period, certainly we would attribute it as you say.
- hydrok9 3y agoI think he meant man as in male, given that women were a very distant 2nd class of citizen.