A History of Greek Philosophy: Volume 3, The Fifth Century Enlightenment, Part 1, The Sophists

The third volume of Professor Guthrie's great history of Greek thought, entitled The Fifth-Century Enlightenment, deals in two parts with the Sophists and Socrates, the key figures in the dramatic and fundamental shift of philosophical interest from the physical universe to man. Each of these parts is now available as a paperback with the text, bibliography and indexes amended where necessary so that each part is self-contained. The Sophists assesses the contribution of individuals like Protagoras, Gorgias and Hippias to the extraordinary intellectual and moral fermant in fifth-century Athens. They questioned the bases of morality, religion and organized society itself and the nature of knowledge and language; they initiated a whole series of important and continuing debates, and they provoked Socrates and Plato to a major restatement and defence of traditional values. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 List of Abbreviations 11 Preface 13 I INTRODUCTION 15 II TOPICS OF THE DAY 26 III WHAT IS A SOPHIST? 39 (1) The word 'sophist' 39 (2) The Sophists 47 (a) Professionalism 47 (b) Inter-city status 52 (c) Methods 53 (d) Interests and general outlook 56 (e) Decline or adolescence? 61 (f) Rhetoric and scepticism 62 (g) Fate of sophistic literature: Plato and Aristotle 63 IV THE 'NOMOS'–'PHYSIS' ANTITHESIS IN MORALS AND POLITICS 67 (1) Introductory 67 (2) The upholders of 'nomos' 72 (a) Anthropological theories of progress 72 (b) Protagoras on the original state of man 75 (c) Other equations of 'nomos' with the just and right 80 Appendix: some passages descriptive of human progress 91 (3) The realists 96 (a) Thucydides 96 (b) Thrasymachus in the 'Republic' 100 (c) Glaucon and Adimantus 109 (d) Nature and necessity 111 (4) The upholders of 'physis' 113 (a) Selfish 113 (i) Callicles: 'physis' as the right of the stronger 113 (ii) Antiphon: 'physis' as enlightened self-interest 119 (iii) Other witnesses (Euripides, Aristophanes, Plato) 125 (b) Humanitarian: written and unwritten law 129 Appendix: Pindar on 'nomos' 143 V THE SOCIAL COMPACT 147 VI EQUALITY 160 (1) Political equality 160 (2) Equality of wealth 164 (3) Social equality 164 (4) Slavery 167 (5) Racial equality 172 VII THE RELATIVITY OF VALUES AND ITS EFFECTS ON ETHICAL THEORY 176 VIII RHETORIC AND PHILOSOPHY (Seeming and being, believing and knowing, persuading and proving) 188 (1) General 188 (2) Protagoras 193 Appendix: Protagoras fr. 1, DK 200 (3) Gorgias 204 (4) Other views: scepticism extreme and moderate (Xeniades, Cratylus, Antiphon) 212 (5) Language and its objects 216 (6) Grammar 231 Additional notes 235 (1) Prodicus and Thucydides 235 (2) Synonymic and philosophy 236 IX RATIONALIST THEORIES OF RELIGION: AGNOSTICISM AND ATHEISM 238 (1) Criticisms of traditional religion 238 (2) Agnosticism: Protagoras 246 (3) Atheism: Diagoras, Prodicus, Critias; Plato's two types of atheist 247 (4) Monotheism: Antisthenes 259 X CAN VIRTUE BE TAUGHT? 262 XI THE MEN 273 Introduction 273 (1) Protagoras 274 (2) Gorgias 281 (3) Prodicus 286 (4) Hippias 292 (5) Antiphon 297 Additional note: the identity of Antiphon 304 (6) Thrasymachus 306 (7) Critias 310 (8) Antisthenes 316 (9) Alcidamas 323 (10) Lycophron 325 (11) Anonymous writers 326 (a) The 'Anonymus Iamblichi' 326 (b) The 'Double Arguments' 328 Bibliography 333 Index of passages quoted or referred to 343 General Index 351 Index of selected Greek words 357 v. 1. The earlier Presocratics and Pythagoreans v. 2. The Presocratic tradition from Parmenides to Democritus v. 3. The fifth-century enlightenment v. 4. Plato, the man and his dialogues : earlier period v. 5. The later Plato and the Academy v. 6. Aristotle, an encounter The Presocratic philosophers dealt to a large extent with questions which might be said to have been settled long ago, and to posses now an interest which is purely historical. Surveys Greek thought through a critical discussion of the major schools and philosophers