Battle of SalamisBattle of Salamis

The Delian LeagueThe Delian League

Thasos

Naxos

Delos

Lesbos

Melos

“Athenian Democracy: The Funeral Oration of Pericle”s: In the eyes of Pericles, what are the ideals of Athenian democracy? Was Pericles correct in his assessment? Why or why not?

“The Significance of the Great Peloponnesian War”: Why does Thucydides consider the Peloponnesian War to be so important? According to Thucydides, what was the underlying cause of this conflict?

Sophists: professional educators who prepared students for a political life. “They taught a man to reason dialectically, to argue back and forth all sides of a case, to discover the more effective arguments for which side he needed to present, and then to convert this into a persuasive speech.” (Nagle, p. 160.)

Is morality merely convention (nomos), or is there a higher sanction to be found in something else, say, in nature (physis)? Quickly the terms conventions (nomos) and nature (physis) became the poles of a great debate that went on for centuries. (See Nagle, pp. 160-161)

Nomos vs. PhysisNomos vs. Physis

The most noteworthy of the Sophists was ProtagorasProtagoras, who speculated more about the gods than any philosopher before him. Protagoras did not believe that intimacy with God was possible, and concluded that "I cannot know that they exist, nor yet that they do not exist." From that he produced the idea that became the classic humanist statement, "Man is the measure of all things."

This turned humanity's view of the universe upside down--man now became more important than God. This was too radical for most Athenians, and they forced Protagoras to flee because of this "impiety." However, after the Peloponnesian War ended, they no longer felt that Athens needed all the moral strength it could get, and embraced the ideas they had previously rejected. During this time Socrates would dismiss all myths as irrelevant by simply saying, "Of the gods we know nothing.“

Another way of interpreting the statement that “Man is the measure of all things” is that “all human laws and practices are simply a matter of convention. It is the city-state, its constitution, and its laws that decide morality. Consequently, there are as many moralities as there are cities or nations.” (Nagle, p. 162.)

Unlike the Sophists, though, Socrates believed that by asking questions and subjecting the answers to logical analysis, agreement could be reached about ethical standards and rules of conduct. Consequently he questioned passers-by about everything; he felt his purpose in life was to be the "midwife assisting in the birth of correct ideas" (to use his own figure of speech). Taking as his motto the famous inscription on the temple of Apollo at Delphi, "Know thyself," he insisted that "the unexamined life is not worth living." To Socrates, human excellence or virtue come from knowledge, and evil and error are the result of ignorance.

Socrates (470? – 399 B.C.Socrates (470? – 399 B.C.

"He would go right up to the most prominent citizen, a great orator or anybody, and ask him if he really knew what he was talking about. A distinguished statesman, for instance, would have wound up a patriotic speech with a preroration about the glory of dying for one's country. Socrates would step up to him and say, 'Pardon my intrusion, but just what do you mean by courage?''Courage is sticking to your post in danger!' would be the curt reply.'But suppose good strategy demands that you retire?' Socrates would ask.'Oh well, then, that's different. You wouldn't stay there in that case, of course.''Then courage isn't either sticking to your post or retiring, is it? What would you say courage is?'The orator would knit his brow. 'You've got me--I'm afraid I don't really know.''I don't either,' Socrates would say. 'But I wonder if it is anything different from just using your brains. That is, doing the reasonable thing regardless of danger.''That sounds more like it,' someone in the crowd would say, and Socrates would turn toward the new voice.'Shall we agree then--tentatively, of course, for it's a difficult question--that courage is steadfast good judgment? Courage is presence of mind. And the opposite thing, in this case, would be the presence of emotion in such force that the mind is blotted out?'“

(Max Eastman, Secrets of the Past, New York, Berkley Books, 1980, pg. 171-172.)

Plato wrote down a collection of these debates in his Dialogues, which probably didn't really take place, but give us a clear view of Socrates' method of reasoning. Such a discussion would have gone like this:

Ostraka

Pnyx Hill