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I’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 thin
by HL33tibCe7 3y ago
I’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.