The Sophists

The Sophists emerged around the 5th century B.C. as Greek society began to open up more to other cultures.  They tended to believe in relativism, the theory that truth is not absolute or universal, but different for different people.   Moral relativism comes in two kinds:

    cultural relativism is the theory that what is right (or wrong) for a culture is just whatever that culture believes to be right (or wrong)

    individual relativism is the theory that what is right (or wrong) for an individual is just whatever that individual believes to be right (or wrong).

Protagoras said that "Man is the measure of all things," suggesting a kind of universal relativism.  He also believed in pragmatism, the idea that what matters is not what is true in itself (or absolutely) but what works.

The Sophists distinguished between physis (nature) and nomos (custom or convention).  Most believed that religion, politics, law, and ethics are entirely matters of convention.

Antiphon and Callicles disagreed.  They believed in a natural ethical code, the ethics of personal advancement.  Callicles even said that the best thing would be to take over and impose one's own rules on others.   Sheepishly accepting the will of others is unnatural, albeit very common, he thought.   

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