Socrates
Sophists cont'd
3) key pre understandings A all knowledge is relative B Culture, religion, and ethics are circumstantial and thereby changeable, rather than natural permanent and absolute
4) The sophists role in Athenian Democracy A The Shift to democract meant that clear speech and the power of persuation was indispensible B Sophists taught the art of rhetoric, the art of persuasive speech, not for the sake of truth, but for the sake of winning the argument
1 make a bad case look good 2 make an unjust case appear just 3 advance one's special interest 4 Chance the 'goo' life of pleasure
c Sophists did not teach for the sake of leanrning, but for the sake of 1 sought out the wealthy 2 charged high tutorial fees
5) Plato is opposed to the sophists philosophical understandings and actions/ethics, calling them
'hucksters masquerading as philosophers'
6) Protagora's A 'Man is the measure of all things, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not' B knowledge is limited to perceptions 1 perceptions differ with each person 2 Example: the blowing sea breeze 3 A thing has as many characteristics as there are people percieving it c There is no way to distinguish between 'appearance' and 'reality' D Laws and moral rules are based not upon nature but upon convention E In the interest of a peaceful orderly and stable society people should reject and uphold the customs, laws and moral rules that tradition had carefully nutured F an agnostic with respect to religion G philosphically a skeptic, ethically a reletivist, politcally pragmatic and conservative
7)Gorgias
A the logical outcome of a skeptical and reletivistic position is to deny any possibility of truth B three claims based on logic 1 nothing exists 2 if anything exists, it is incomprehensible 3 even if something is comprehensible, it cannot be communicated a logos (word, language) is meaningless
3) key pre understandings A all knowledge is relative B Culture, religion, and ethics are circumstantial and thereby changeable, rather than natural permanent and absolute
4) The sophists role in Athenian Democracy A The Shift to democract meant that clear speech and the power of persuation was indispensible B Sophists taught the art of rhetoric, the art of persuasive speech, not for the sake of truth, but for the sake of winning the argument
1 make a bad case look good 2 make an unjust case appear just 3 advance one's special interest 4 Chance the 'goo' life of pleasure
c Sophists did not teach for the sake of leanrning, but for the sake of 1 sought out the wealthy 2 charged high tutorial fees
5) Plato is opposed to the sophists philosophical understandings and actions/ethics, calling them
'hucksters masquerading as philosophers'
6) Protagora's A 'Man is the measure of all things, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not' B knowledge is limited to perceptions 1 perceptions differ with each person 2 Example: the blowing sea breeze 3 A thing has as many characteristics as there are people percieving it c There is no way to distinguish between 'appearance' and 'reality' D Laws and moral rules are based not upon nature but upon convention E In the interest of a peaceful orderly and stable society people should reject and uphold the customs, laws and moral rules that tradition had carefully nutured F an agnostic with respect to religion G philosphically a skeptic, ethically a reletivist, politcally pragmatic and conservative
7)Gorgias
A the logical outcome of a skeptical and reletivistic position is to deny any possibility of truth B three claims based on logic 1 nothing exists 2 if anything exists, it is incomprehensible 3 even if something is comprehensible, it cannot be communicated a logos (word, language) is meaningless