Introduction
Man, says Protagoras of Abdera (ca. 490-ca.420 BCE) "Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not"”[1]. According to Protagoras(the most famous of the sophists), philosophy should start with man and the Athenian society for it is only when men are able to understand themselves that he ’man’ will be able to understand the world and his society better. This assertion of Protagoras gave rise to some important social questions, which formed the core of socio-political philosophy.
If man is the measure of all things, how did man come to acquire his/her individuality, what qualifies to be called justice in any society?
Why the sophists?
After the Persian War (490-480 B.C.) Athens became the leader of Pan-Graeca civilization. Because they won the war, Athens became a popular state. People came to Athens to do business and brought with them their cultures. As a result of the victory of the Persian War, Athens and the Athenians (aristocrats, of course) suddenly became very wealthy and now had a lot of leisure. The abundance of wealth and the cultural maturity brought forth the crushes between the values of the elders and those of the youngers, which lead to relativism of values and culture. Athenians were basically very political people. The economic prosperity and the military strength of Athens attracted many excellent men of letters, arts and sciences. Among them, there were educators and self-claiming teachers and political consultants.
The "sophists" were some of those intellectuals who claimed themselves to have special talents, knowledge and skills (all of which they called "wisdom") as well as abilities (virtues) and they claimed that they were able to educate the youth with such special knowledge and skills to be smart in political matters. The youth especially those from rich homes wanted to be vast in politics and the law, so they paid these knowledgeable men to teach them the art of politics and public speaking. This in turn gave rise to the philosophy of the sophists.
The Sophist
The Sophists were educated men who, for a price, would teach the youth the art of rhetoric or politics. The Sophists provided a valuable service to the aristocracy of Athens, especially in that they claimed to be able to provide young men with the sort of education that would give them advantage in Athenian politics and commerce. In his Apology, Plato has Socrates scorn this practice saying how public education in Athens could produce the same results as the Sophists do far more easily and cheaply. Charging money for educational service was not the custom in Athens at that time. So, naturally, they were widely unpopular and eventually criticized. In one of Socrates’ dialogue with Protagoras the later stated
…A teacher of this sort I believe myself to be, and above all other men to have the knowledge which makes a man noble and good; and I give my pupils their money's-worth, and even more, as they themselves confess. And therefore I have introduced the following mode of payment:-When a man has been my pupil, if he likes he pays my price, but there is no compulsion; and if he does not like, he has only to go into a temple and take an oath of the value of the instructions, and he pays no more than he declares to be their value.,[2]
Though good teachers they were, they couldn’t help but criticized many of the laws and practices in Athens and even teach people to doubt everything they were told by the Athenian authorities. This was only an attempt to defend themselves from the vast criticisms they receive from other schools of thought. The belief in the god’s, the laws of the Athenians, and the question of justice they all doubted. However, they thought obedience to the laws of the state. In one of Protagoras’ dialogue with Socrates he contends
Protagoras: …And this is prudence in affairs private as well as public; he will learn to order his own house in the best manner, and he will be able to speak and act for the best in the affairs of the state.
Socrates: Do I understand you, I said; and is your meaning that you teach the art of politics, and that you promise to make men good citizens?
Protagoras: That, Socrates, is exactly the profession which I make.[3]
Protagoras was later charged with impiety and drowned in the sea while fleeing for safety to the colony at Sicily.
Amongst the earlier sophists were Protagoras, Gorgias (whom Plato viciously accused in Gorgias, however), Hippias, Prodicus, Callicles, Antiphon, Critias were supposedly different. Many self-claimed sophists were active as political consultants, advising influential politicians, giving advice, helping making legislation, conceiving political plots. Gorgias was an example. He came to Athens from Leontini to secure military supports. Many sophists were either themselves diplomats or advisors for the diplomat, as they were well acquainted with various cultures and had mastered the art of persuasion.
One must however, know that though the sophists are many in number, their views are not exactly the same. While Protagoras the founder of the sophist school believed that virtue can be learned from good teachers like himself, Gorgias believed that man cannot know anything with absolute certainty. Even if he can, he wouldn’t be able to communicate it, even if he tries to communicate it, before he does, it is gone. From this assertion of Protagoras, one can deduce what we call a good judge is just our own conception and judgment because; justice is a question of what I think. This was taken up by Thrasymachus.
In book I of Plato's Republic (336b - 367e), Thrasymachus argues that might makes right "justice is simply the interest of the stronger"[4] Thrasymachus gives the following argument: “…in all cities the same thing, namely, the interest of the established regime, is just. And superior strength, I presume, is to be found on the side of regime... So that the conclusion of right reasoning is that the same thing, namely, the interest of the stronger, is everywhere just.”[5]
Achievements
The greatest achievement of the sophists was that by questioning many the traditional values and customs, they were able to bring philosophy from cosmological speculation to speculation about man and the society. The problem of human-being and of the society as well as the politics became more serious questions rather than those of the heaven and nature. Why? Because what had been previously taken for granted as self-evident was no longer acceptable as true, but on the contrary, everything which was taken for granted in humanity and society had become questionable. In other words, they gave philosophy a human face.
Sophists being special professionals, acted as the transitory philosophers, a bridge between the revivalists (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) of political philosophy and modern political philosophers. Although their accomplishments seem negative in general, they prepared for the re-birth of the philosophy by Socrates (and Plato) and fulfilled the needs of the society at the time of Greece. Another great contribution of the sophists was that they accomplished the preparation for the rise of Plato's and Aristotle's philosophies and philosophical inquires into human beings and their society.
Even though the Athenians, had condemned the teachings and writings of Protagoras, they were later to see how true his statement was in the conviction and death sentence of Socrates proving Protagoras' most famous claim to be right. The sophist therefore, gave an important impact to the Athenians and the other city states in Greece both intellectually and culturally.
Bibliography
Dr. Lane Robert (Friday January 10, 2003), PHIL 41150: Political Philosophy-Plato Lecture Notes.
J. M. Robinson (1968). An Introduction to Early Greek Philosophy (n.d)John .l. D. and David J. V, Trans. (1997). Plato’s Republic, Great Britain: Wordsworth classics.
Hermann D. And Walther K, (1967). Fragments of the Pre-Socratics, Great Britain: Wordsworth classics.
Protagoras -- Man is the Measure of All Things: How Everything is True if Believed to be True (n.d) retrieved April 10, 2011. From http://www.suite101.com/content/protagoras-man-is-the-measure-of-all-things-a92771#ixzz1J8J6oFw3
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (www.iep.utm.edu/p/protagor.htm)
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