1. Introducing the Sophists

2. 2 “...for every school of thought, another school is established in reaction.” (Smith 35) The Sophists Truth is relative.

3. 3 Progression Mythologists --> Stories Naturalists --> Physical matter Mystics --> Logos & Mythos merge Sophists -->Truth is subjective Plato -->Truth with a capital T. 3

4. Sophists  The term related to the Greek words sophos and sophia, commonly translated as “wise” and “wisdom”

5. Sophists  The term related to the Greek words sophos and sophia, commonly translated as “wise” and “wisdom”  A “sophist”, then, is simply a “wise man”

6. Periclean Democracy  Pericles, an Athenian general, politician and renowned orator ushered in what is generally considered the golden age of Athens—he fostered the arts and executed a large number of public works

7. Periclean Democracy  The constitutional reform he instigated in Athens in 462/461 B.C. was based upon two principles:

8. Periclean Democracy  1) That power should be with the people as a whole and not a small section of the citizen body;

9. Periclean Democracy  1) That power should be with the people as a whole and not a small section of the citizen body;  2) That high offices should be entrusted to those best fitted and most able to carry out civic functions

10. Periclean Democracy  “What the sophists were able to offer was in no sense a contribution to the education of the masses. They offered an expensive product invaluable to those seeking a career in politics and public life generally...”(Kerferd 17)

11. 11 The Major Players

12.  Protagoras

13. The Major Players  Protagoras  Born about 490 B.C. in Thrace

14. The Major Players  Protagoras  Born about 490 B.C. in Thrace

15. The Major Players  Protagoras  Born about 490 B.C. in Thrace  Met Pericles; later appointed by him to write laws for the Athenian colony of Thurii in 444 B.C.

16. The Major Players  Protagoras

17. The Major Players  Protagoras  A successful and respected teacher  Range of interests included ethics, politics, theology, education, cultural history, literary criticism, linguistic studies and rhetoric

18. The Major Players  Truth is subjective  Most famous for his statement: “Man is the measure of all things.”  There is no way to know absolute truth

19. The Major Players  Gorgias

20. The Major Players  Gorgias  Born in Leontini, Sicily around 480 B.C.

21. The Major Players  Gorgias  Born in Leontini, Sicily around 480 B.C.  In 427, sent as an ambassador by Leontini to Athens, which he visited repeatedly or even settled there

22. The Major Players  Gorgias  His oratorical virtuosity amazed Athenians

23. The Major Players  Gorgias  His oratorical virtuosity amazed Athenians  Famous for his extemporaneous oratory—he would ask an audience to suggest a subject that he would then speak about knowledgeably

24. The Major Players  Isocrates

25. The Major Players  Isocrates  Born to a wealthy family in Athens in 436 B.C.

26. The Major Players  Isocrates  Born to a wealthy family in Athens in 436 B.C.  Student of Gorgias; also an acquaintance of Socrates

27. The Major Players  Isocrates  Set up his own school of rhetoric around 392 B.C. emphasizing sophist principles of rhetoric, especially kairos

28. The Major Players  Isocrates  Believed that for his students to succeed, they required three things: a natural ability; knowledge gained by imitation and practice, and a means to apply that practice

29. So What?

30. 30 What does all this have to do with our world? Why does it matter now?  http://www.edge.org/responses/what-scientific-idea-is-ready-for- retirement http://www.edge.org/responses/what-scientific-idea-is-ready-for- retirement