The Sophist School
The Sophists — Protagoras and Gorgias — and their relativism and skepticism; the crisis of Greek philosophy that prepared the way for the constructive genius of Socrates.
The Sophists (5th century BC) were professional teachers of rhetoric, argumentation, and the arts of public success. Protagoras of Abdera (c. 490–420 BC) formulated the relativist principle: 'Man is the measure of all things — of things that are, that they are; of things that are not, that they are not.' Truth, on this account, is relative to the individual perceiver: there is no objective truth accessible to all. Gorgias of Leontini (c. 483–375 BC) pushed to nihilistic scepticism: nothing exists; if something did exist it could not be known; if known, it could not be communicated. The Sophists' historical importance is largely negative: their relativism and scepticism constituted the intellectual crisis that provoked Socrates' search for absolute, objective truth and standard — making the Sophists the necessary dialectical foil against which the greatest positive achievement of Greek philosophy was formed.
Article 6. The Sophist School
a) Protagoras; b) Gorgias; c) Others. A backward glance through the systems of doctrine already discussed makes three facts strikingly plain: i) There was disagreement among schools and teachers on the solution of problems discussed, chief of which were the questions of the original world-stuff and of the character of the visible world ; 2) No single philosopher or school had proposed anything like a harmonious system of philosophy approximating completeness; 3) Doubt had been cast repeatedly upon the reliability of sense-knowledge. There could be but one outcome of this condition of things. Persons given to thought and study despaired of achieving truth. They said, “Who can be sure of anything? Behold, the masters disagree! They tell us not to trust our senses; why, then, should we believe reason? No one can know anything with certainty.” This is the assertion of skepticism. There existed at this time (5 century b. c.) no great mind, superior to the skeptical surrender, to lead men on in the work of thinking out a right and valid solution of the problems with which the schools had dealt. Even had there been such a mind, it is highly improbable that the temper of the times would have submitted to its influence. The intense physical and mental activity which had been a marked characteristic of Greek life in times past had given place to relaxation and inaction. The cities were at peace, the people in easy circumstances. Love of luxury prevailed—notably at Athens—and with the growing tendency towards ease and softness of living came mental debility and moral corruption. Skepticism spread like a contagion. Then arose leaders suited to the mood of the times—smooth, plausible talkers ; lovers of ease and indolence ; exquisites, for the most part, in dress and manner ; men with a ready cynical smile for the honest arguments of a sincere seeker after truth. These leaders of the fashionable thought asserted that wisdom is not a matter of truth as discerned from falsity. Truth and falsity, they said, are simply not discernible. He is wise, therefore, who seeks to achieve leadership of minds by his ability to argue plausibly and to convince an opponent in argument by any arts at his command, caring not a whit about the so-called truth or falsity of his argument. The teachers of this skepticism called themselves the true sophoi or wise men; and thus the word sophist has come to mean one who can offer glib argument, apparently valid, without regard for truth. The sophists of Greece cultivated the arts of dialectic and rhetoric as the only acquirements worth while. The philosophy of these men was skepticism; sophistry was their method.
a) Protagoras (Born about 480 b. c.)
Life: Protagoras was born at Abdera in Thrace, the native place of Democritus the Atomist. He lived in Sicily, and later at Athens. After teaching for a time in the latter city, he was accused of atheism, and was forced to flee. It is said that he met death in a shipwreck.
Works: Protagoras wrote a book On That Which Is, of which a few fragments survive. Knowledge of the doctrines SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY 44O-3OO B. C. This Chapter discusses the Greek Philosophy of the Golden Age, the period of its perfection. During this time splendid minds reacted against the destructive theories of materialism and skepticism rampant in Greece, and developed true philosophy into an almost flawless system. This work was begun by Socrates, furthered by Plato, and perfected by Aristotle. With Aristotle the Golden Age came to an abrupt end. The worth of the Aristotelean system was not appreciated either by philosophers contemporary with its formulation or by those who might have held it as an immediate priceless heritage. Centuries elapsed before this almost perfect system was recognized in its true character : Aristotle did not come into his own until the Middle Ages. After Aristotle, Greek Philosophy retrograded, and the minds of thinkers were dominated by the old pre-Socratic systems in various forms. This Chapter is divided into three articles : Article I. Socrates and the Socratic Schools Article 2. Plato and the Academies Article 3. Aristotle and the Aristoteleans Article i. Socrates and the Socratic Schools
a) Socrates; b) The Socratic Schools.
a) Socr ates (469-399 b. c.)
Life: Socrates—son of Sophroniscus, a sculptor, and 64