Sophists

Abstract The Greek Sophists were self‐proclaimed experts who taught wealthy young men how to conduct themselves successfully in the affairs of their cities. They taught and practiced the art of rhetoric, much prized in ancient participatory democracies such as Athens, where civic leadership depended on the ability to persuade one's fellow citizens in the Assembly, the Council and the Jury Courts. In these institutions decisions were made by vote after speeches pro and con on substantial issues, such as forming alliances, building fortifications or temples, trying and punishing accused citizens, or going to war. Some Sophists also had substantial views about the nature of reality, knowledge, and value. Here we focus on the two most famous Sophists, Protagoras and Gorgias, and the implications of their views for ethics: Protagoras' most famous doctrine, that man is the measure of all things, and its implication that values are subjective and relative; and Gorgias' theory of rhetoric, its aims and methods, and the ethics of rhetoric.