Ancient Greek Philosophers: Sophists, Socrates, and Plato
Sophists
Protagoras (485-410 BC)
He was the most famous Sophist. His theory of knowledge advocated relativism, which permanently disqualifies the whole truth: nothing is absolutely true or false, good or bad.
Gorgias (485-380 BC)
Critic of Parmenides (the contrary). His work, On Non-Being, has three fundamental theses:
- Nothing exists; there is no reality (nihilistic).
- If something existed, it would not be knowable (skeptical).
- If something existed and was knowable, knowledge could not be communicated.
Defense of rhetoric: The use of language not to know the truth but to convince the assembly (in a democracy, those who won the assembly had the right to vote).
Socrates (470-399 BC)
The son of a sculptor and a midwife, he was born in Athens, only leaving the city to go to Delphi, where the oracle was. We know things about him thanks to Plato, who dedicated three dialogues to him: Apology (the trial where he was sentenced to death), Phaedo (the last day of his life), and Symposium.
He was sentenced to death by 500 people.
Theory of Knowledge
He believed in the truth, and that humans can get to know it using the intellectual route (ratio-wise). For him, truth is well-defined universal ethical concepts (general concepts such as justice, good, virtue, wisdom, etc.). To get the definition, he used induction through dialogue.
The Socratic method (which is used to get the definition) has two phases:
1. Irony: The goal is to show that the speaker knows nothing. The philosopher, in a fun way, asks specific questions to the opponent.
2. Maieutics: Opinion (true or false). When the opponent recognizes his ignorance, through dialogue, they find the truth. This does not have to be said by anyone; it must come from within you.
CONCLUSION: At the end of the dialogue, the definition is found, although not always, since according to him, the search for truth is an endless process.
Differences Between Socrates and the Sophists
- Socrates did not charge, while the Sophists did. He was not a professional philosopher.
- The Sophists made speeches to convince (monologues); however, Socrates used dialogue to find the truth.
- The Sophists did not believe in absolute reality, while Socrates did (which for him consisted of a well-defined concept). All had the same object in common: ethics, politics, and language.
Plato (428-347 BC)
He was a follower of Socrates and his ideas. Socrates’ death greatly affected him. He thought about the death sentence of Socrates and the factors that led to the situation.
The government of the polis should be passed into the hands of philosophers because they are the ones who know justice.
He was against the relativism and skepticism that the Sophists taught, and following Socrates, he proclaimed the existence of a unique reality. For him, the main task of philosophy is the education of people who become governors with capabilities to address a fair state.
The remains of his work are the dialogues, but they are not those he taught in the Academy. They are divided into 3 periods: Youth (Apology, Protagoras, and Gorgias, much influenced by Socrates, his teacher), Maturity (Phaedo, Republic, etc., where he explains his theories), and Elderly (Theaetetus, Sophist, Statesman, etc., where he reflects on his theories).
Theory of Ideas: How is Reality?
Fundamental thesis: There is a world beyond the sensible world. In this world are ideas (or forms) which are metaphysical realities (because they are beyond the physical world). He tried to prove it.
Ideas: They are universal, immutable, real, and there are not mental concepts in a separate world. All ideas are in a world that is not the sensible world (in which we are); they are in the world of ideas. Therefore, there are two worlds: the SENSITIVE world (material) and the world of IDEAS (spiritual).
The idea of property: It is at the top of the hierarchy of ideas and depends on the dialogue; it is replaced by beauty. It is the principle (the cause) of all things. WELL, it means excellence, the best, and he compares it with the sun in the sensible world because the way the sun lights up makes you able to understand other ideas. It is an ontological principle (which makes existence possible) and logical (which makes it possible to know everything else). The idea, however, unifies all reality, and as the foundation of the world of ideas, it is also the basis of the sensible world since this is a copy of the world of ideas.
Relationship between the world of ideas and the sensible world: from two related theories.
1. Theory of Participation: Because the idea is unique (cannot be divided), there are two possibilities that exist in two worlds: the whole idea is in every thing (it’s impossible because you cannot multiply it) or that these ideas are in a portion of each thing (it’s impossible because you cannot split it).
2. Theory of Relationship as an Emulation: The idea is left to the world of ideas; everything that we are sensitive to in the world is a copy, an imitation of the idea. There is a Demiurge, who makes the copies. But as he who does not have ideas, it is less so, but just a copy and requires a subject to eternal copies, which is the Chora, which from there, the world is sensitive.
With all this, the formation of the cosmos is explained.
Theory of Knowledge (Theory of Reminiscence)
It shows that all knowledge is a record where we have the Maieutics method.
He has a soul that existed earlier in our lives. This must include the forms that are eternal.
When reincarnated in a body, you forget everything; the body is a jammer, and when we see material objects, it recalls the idea.
Knowledge is recognition (main thesis).
Type of Knowledge
A similar line: for him, there is a proportionality between reality and knowledge. The more perfect it is, the knowledge will be more true. Therefore, the more real knowledge is the knowledge of ideas.