Sophists: If there is objective morality, everything is permitted

Entry topics: Sophists

The fundamental rivalry between Socrates and the sophists could be summarized as a testimony of faith. While the first thought that there are moral criteria on which to make a foundation, the latter were quite the opposite since they maintain their positions based on skepticism and is posited as the moral terrorists willing to undermine traditional values.
Both were the result of the time. An era in which people were unanswered after feeling dissatisfied with the first naturalistic philosophy that had fallen into a dead end, with traditional religious beliefs and, as Thucydides says, with great moral crisis resulting from war, fever, and the warring factions of power. Parallels that illustrate some of the ways couples have been both the example we can see that to some extent they shared the teaching of virtue or "arete" or that they were also looking teaching and learning primarily through spoken dialogue, in the case of Socrates was a famous Mayeutica.
One of the most relevant reports of the Sophists was for the social contract (a sort of precedent that centuries later would speak Rousseau). His tendencies were focused on the idea that there is a weak majority to fend off has created a strong set of laws for their own interest and therefore did not come from the gods. Protagoras and Callicles are good representatives of this position. Antiphon points out as the supreme principle of "life" and designated as irrelevant so far against him.
With everything mentioned above we have implicitly a reversal of traditional concepts of good and bad. While Socrates was worse to do injustice to suffer, now we have a group of people who say that it is logical that the strongest prevail by whatever means necessary.
In addition to unseat the gods as the foundation of justice, legal advocated that did not have to agree with the right (this position clearly influenced by his anthropological observations of other cultures), and that right and wrong have no objective existence. The last sentence especially want to stay.
Protagoras said the man as the measure of all things, so that an object can be cold for one to another can be hot and, as quoted above, this means that there is no external objective reality. Transferred this to the moral (as did Archelaus) we have no objective existence of justice. At this point it is easy to deduce that if there is no justice, then there is the objectively right and wrong. This leaves the door open to many things. If there is no objective morality, everything is permitted.

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Protagoras of Abdera: the spearhead of the Sophists.

Protagoras (Πρωταγόρας) was the first to adopt the name of sophist and charge fees for their teaching (as well as receive gifts of money for the public reading of his speeches). Initiator of eristic, was also a antilogical, one of the creators of the art of rhetoric and was arguably one of the pioneers of "social contract" to show that laws are a convention for the majority to control the minority. For the latter no doubt was based on their knowledge of other cultures that gave him a broader perspective than that of most Greeks of the time.
Born in 490 BC Abdera, Meandrio son of a wealthy man who at the time, and died around 411 BC on a voyage by sea. Child is likely to receive instruction from the Magians when they passed through Thrace, because the expedition of Xerxes against Greece, possibly hosted by Meandrio himself, explaining that the Persians share their knowledge when they never did except with permission the king. Although there are sources that make disciple of Democritus seems very unlikely because the differences are possibly the reviews are due more to the influences that Democritus was the sophist. He drafted the constitution of the Turia (known Panhellenic colony under the leadership of Pericles), in which compulsory education was introduced and public. In 411 B.C. is accused of impiety by Pythodoros and his books are collected and publicly burned, primarily because of his book entitled "On the gods can not know ...". Although he escaped death during his escape by boat to Sicily.
He maintained that it was very important in the education of a man being a good connoisseur of poetry to understand and analyze the creations of poets. Like the rest of the Sophists argued that providing practical teaching arete (virtue) and so promised his disciples (Isocrates and Prodicus were among them) return home a better man from the first day we were to receive their lessons .
For Virtue says that learning needs of natural qualities and exercise. He cited that one must begin to learn from young. Stobaeus tells us (Florilegio III 29.80) as Protagoras said that nothing is art without exercise or exercise without art. " At the same time you say (in the "Protagoras" by Plato) that virtue must involve all and not participating in it must be taught and punished until a result becomes better. There also said that if one is distinguished by advance us toward virtue, we should be happy about it.
He divided the speech into four parts: desire, question, answer and order (as other versions were seven: narracción, question, answer, order, declaration, desire and call). As for the kinds of words distinguished male, female and household goods. This is because it wanted to avoid uses that he felt were inaccurate and that he saw as morphologically inconsistent or that the form did not match what he thought it was her natural gender.
Sextus Empiricus in his "Sketches Pyrrhonians" (I 216 ff) tells Protagoras that matter is fluid flow and addictions are continually coming to replace the losses, in addition to the sensations are transformed and altered according to the age and the other provisions of the body. The causes of all phenomena intelligible lie in the matter in that they depend on it. The men sometimes grasp and sometimes other properties under its provisions. So, as said Hermias in his ridicule of the pagan philosophers "(IX D.653), objects that fall under man's perception exist and those that do not fall do not exist between the forms of being. So was another of its premises that "Man is the measure of all things" and Aristotle explains it as follows in his Metaphysics: "[...] what each one would seem, has a firm reality. And if that happens, it happens that the same thing and it is not bad and is so good and all other statements in conformity with the opposing argument. [...] "" [...] If the contradictory propositions on the same subject are all at the same time, true, it is clear that all things are one. "
For Protagoras at the end of this we find the soul, based in the chest, which was nothing more than feelings, as he confirms Plato in the Theaetetus.
Crossing these moral convictions held on any issue that can hold two mutually opposed discourses valid form that could be made to look strong or too weak to either of the two opposing views. Is well situated on the opposite side to Socrates defending the objective existence of moral values.

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The origin of capitalism in the fall of the Middle Ages (part 2): The channeling through the doctrines of Luther and Calvin.

Entry topics: Erich Fromm, Sociology

The ideas that respond to strong psychological needs of social groups are those that become historical forces. This is true of Calvinism and Lutheranism that gained momentum due to the social demands of the moment.
Luther was a person dominated by the authoritarian character. After a childhood of beatings and harsh impositions its relationship to the authority turned to ambivalent himself playing in an authoritarian patterns that had formed. On one hand he hated the authority and it is relieved against the other admired and tended to undergo. This was reflected in the fact that throughout his life he had an authority which he opposed and one that was the subject of admiration. Within the established centers of authority admired in God an ultimate source of power, as he describes "the power and where it thrives, its existence and permanence are due to God's orders.".The rage that overcame him meant that his hatred was directed against himself and against others. As a result of this much of their ideological constructs were designed to seek to harmonize these contradictions in a system that was apparently consistent. On the other hand, the theology of Luther succeeded in expressing the feelings of the middle class struggling against the authority of the Church, and showed a grudge against the new moneyed class. The system then Luther gave independence to man in religious matters, robbing the church of her authority to grant the individual.
Luther assumed the existence of an innate evil in human nature, this evil that men had turned their will to evil, and therefore the man would then be in need of divine grace. Thus only if the man humbled himself by destroying his will and individual pride may come upon him to receive God's grace. This concept of innate evil, along with the idea of the lack of freedom to choose what is right is one of the main lines of his theory.
The question that haunted all his life Luther was not rational, came from the isolation and helplessness of a person under the influence of hatred and fear generated in its infancy. This kind of irrational doubt is not resolved by rational responses, but usually resolve by making the individual becomes part of a larger force that has some sense. In the case of Luther's revelation happened in 1518 and the message was that salvation is through the faith given to man by God. Crossing this message action Luther freed the people of the authority of the Church forced him to undergo a more tyrannical authority, that of a God who demanded as a condition for salvation of man's complete submission together with the annihilation of his personality.
Along with its accession to the contempt authority is powerless masses in a way similar to how it came contempt for weakness in Naziism. When the masses rebel within the limits it has set, is with them. But when they attack the authorities that he approves arises against them a strong hatred and contempt. In this quote, from his book "Against the hordes of robberies and killings of the peasants" (1525), he reflects this: "Therefore, let those who can not, punish, kill and injure openly or secretly therefore we must remember that nothing can be more poisonous harmful or devilish than a rebel. "
Calvin's theology should acquire to Anglo-Saxon countries as important as that of Luther in Germany, consistently shows a similar spirit. The humiliation of himself and the destruction of all man's pride as a means to obtain the assurance of divine power are also in the major schemes of this thought. Calvin said in "Institutes of the Christian religion" (Book III, Chapter VIII): "We do not belong, therefore, neither our reason nor our will should predominate in our deliberations and actions. [...] Instead, we belong to God, and therefore live and die for Him "
He also agreed with Luther in denying that good works can lead to salvation and the central recipient of the message, the conservative middle class. Despite the doubts generated by the collapse of the traditional estates of the Middle Ages provided a new safety Calvin also by submission.
But in Calvin's doctrine of predestination becomes more strongly than that of Luther. Salvation or damnation is predestined by God so that this is something that is not for men. The Calvinists believed that men are created unequal and that they were elected, while the rest would fall into the condemnation, which clearly puts clearly a general hatred and contempt for humanity that also serves the same type of psychological assumptions Nazism. Luther also differed in most exalting the importance of moral effort. Consequently the virtues that man should acquire were: modesty and moderation, justice (to give each one what it is) and religion (to unite man with God). In later developments of Calvinism the exaltation of the virtuous life together with the unceasing effort to gain dominance lead to the idea that success in mortality resulting from these efforts is a sign of salvation.
The constant effort was for Luther to Calvin as one of the ways to avoid the anguish caused by the irrational doubt. The frenetic activity is a form of forgetting oneself and thus defuse this problem. The irrationality of this relentless effort shows that there is a goal, but serves to reveal whether someone has been predetermined in advance. This mechanism is also typical of obsessional neurotics, than when they are immersed in some kind of doubt can be devoted to counting any random element and attribute to result in any type of property. In developing these schemes were mainly human energies employed in this work and that capitalism served to obtain such material budgets for expansion.
The middle class had developed a deep hostility and resentment toward the new moneyed classes of the newly emerging capitalism, the result of luxury and power so that the latter could afford. The doctrines of Luther and Calvin this hostility channeled to output requests that the middle class could not articulate as clearly as the lower classes, if they hated the rich who exploited them. While hostility toward others is generally conscious, which is directed to oneself for streamlining mechanisms to come out of an available form. This happened with Calvinism and Lutheranism stressing that they did their own wickedness and insignificance. This strengthened the psychological basis necessary for the establishment of the foundations of what would be the capitalist society.

Note: The picture is a portrait of Luther by Lucas Cranach made in 1529

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The origin of capitalism in the fall of the Middle Ages (part 1): The change of values.

Entry topics: Erich Fromm, Sociology

Understanding capitalism as a historical process that involves understanding the social, or what is the same type of adaptation of man to life by the guidelines given society, is neither the only nor the best. It is society that makes the individuals for their own purposes in promoting the facets that they are more convenient without being required to meet the individual development of its members. Once it becomes clear that employers who provide the capital are not the only nor the most desirable is the open road to reach the true goals of the individual and collective lives of human beings. Erich Fromm provides a guide to understanding how this process has been formed.
Regarding our society a fundamental characteristic of medieval society is the lack of freedom. A man had little chance of changing social class or go to another place that was not the birth. Nor have I used the opportunity to wear what they want or eat what he pleased. But even if the person was not free in the modern sense, was not alone or isolated. By having limited possibilities of changing his life was within a routine that context. The blacksmith, the gentleman, the farmer, ... all remained linked to the role that society had commissioned. Thus ended the social order is conceived as the natural order. Although many or immense sufferings were the Church was there to give an explanation and forward them bearable. The original sin was the scapegoat of existing evils so that the Church encouraged the guilt while seeking possibilities for overcoming them.
In the final part of the Middle Ages the unity and centralization of medieval society had weakened. The capital gained prominence through individual economic initiative and competition which created a new moneyed class. Individualism is then extended to other fields of human activity: fashion, art, philosophy, theology, ... For the moneyed classes this was not perceived differently than for the small group of wealthy capitalists because for the first this process was a threat to their traditional way of life.
In Italy this process was more intense and had a greater impact on philosophy, art and lifestyle, to the extent that the Italian Renaissance Burckhardt became the firstborn among the children of modern Europe. The origins of this process are in various economic and political factors that have joined the privileged geographical position of Italy, which gave unique geographical advantages in a time of strong business expansion across the Mediterranean. For these reasons and others arose in Italy a powerful wealthy class whose members were dominated by a spirit of initiative, power and ambition. Then the birth and origin became less important than wealth.
As a result of this gradual destruction of medieval society was emerging, the individual in the modern sense. The masses who had no wealth and power of the former ruling group have lost their safety and ended up becoming a group report. Meanwhile the wealthy got a feeling of strength and, simultaneously, an isolation, a growing doubt and skepticism. And it was this insecurity, as pointed out by Burckhardt, a basic feature of the rebirth of the individual as reflected in the desire for fame, which silenced while doubts served to alleviate the need to achieve immortality and so that life itself acquires meaning when reflected in the opinion of others.
The socioeconomic organization of medieval society was relatively static. Although he had to fight hard for a living, in general, one could expect to live the fruits of labor. Within this system the fundamental economic assumptions were that economic interests are subordinate to the problem of life, which was the salvation and that economic behavior was an aspect of personal behavior, subject, like the others, rules morality. R. Tawney told in "Religion and the Rise of Capitalism" how it was lawful for a man to seek the wealth necessary to maintain the living standards of their own social position. Search more was not considered to be an entrepreneur but greedy, and greed was a mortal sin. Private property was a necessary institution, at least in a world fallen into sin, but must be tolerated only as a concession to human weakness, should never be exalted as a good in itself.
While the market situation in the Middle Ages was static, so that there was a supply and demand direct and specific at the moment the market situation was broader and could no longer be fixed for the supply and demand were related. It was no longer sufficient to produce useful commodities as the market laws decided whether the products could be sold and to what benefit. The new market mechanism was similar to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, according to which the individual must make every effort to be good, but their salvation or damnation was determined from birth. The market day became the day of reckoning for the products of human effort. To this point the critical elements of modern capitalism along with its psychological effects on the individual had already emerged. The economy of the feudal system was based on the principle of cooperation, individualism now gathered strength and medieval principles were gradually relegated. The man had lost a stable system and its relations with other men became hostile in all possible rivals to be among them.
By the late Middle Ages began to develop the concept of time in the modern sense and the minutes began to have value. A symptom of this is that at Nuremberg the bells began to play the quarter-hour from the S. XVI. Time began to have such value that people realized that he could not lose. The preacher Martin Butzer wrote then: "Everyone is running after those issues and most profitable occupations. The study of the arts and sciences is discarded in favor of the more ignoble forms of manual labor."

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Hippias of Elis: Encyclopaedic knowledge as a sophist.

Entry topics: Presocratics

Using the "Protagoras" by Plato we may suppose that Hippias of Elis was a contemporary of Prodicus although there are no more data to substantiate this. Just know, mainly by hand from Plato, who toured many cities making speeches and getting with it fame and money. I used to introduce into their discussions issues of geometry, astronomy, music and rhythm. Also discussed painting and sculpture. All this he did in different places. In Sparta, however, investigated the families of the cities, settlements, deeds done, since the Lacedaemonians, for their will to rule, fond of this kind of study.
Most characteristic of his personality was his encyclopedic knowledge, which enabled him to boast of mastering all the arts and sciences of his time. This capability was the result of his encyclopedic memory ability that he developed through mnemonics procedures also sought to teach his disciples. As evidence of this unusual memorial holding capacity Philostratus tells us about this issue: "the sophist Hippias of Elis, had a memory so powerful, even and old enough to hear once in fifty names to remember the order in which had heard (Philostratus in Life of sophists "I, 11.1 ff). Linked to this encyclopaedic knowledge formed a proud temper and tart, just as in Hippias Plato tells us less 363c: "[...] Since I started taking part in competitions at Olympia, so far, I have not met anyone better I in any way.
His teaching included courses on genealogy, astronomy, mathematics, geometry, mythology, history, painting, prosody, sculpture, verse and music. He composed dithyrambs, prose texts of all kinds and tragedy. Despite the breadth of the disciplines taught had a systematic and thorough study of each. He also wrote a list of Olympic victors from the archives and inscriptions at Olympia was the first attempt to create a systematic timeline. Possibly Thucydides served Hippias data for the chronology of his "History of the Peloponnesian War." In any case the list of Hippias also served as the basis for later wrote Eusebius and possibly served as a model for many other similar, as Hellanicus list of the priestesses of Hera at Argos or Aristotle himself the conqueror of Delphi. His is also a dialogue Trojan, whose theme is: in Troy, and conquered, Nestor admonishes Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, on the action to be taken to manifest as a good man. Carried out in defense of the interests of Elis, more than any other Greek embassies, and in any city, left the fame of his evil plight public speeches and debates. By contrast, raised lots of money and was enrolled in the tribes of small and large cities.
Stobaeus, Florilegium III 38.32. The writing of Plutarch, On the Libel [XXIII 3 Bernardakis VII, p. 128, 8-13] gives some comments on his ethical thought: "Hippias says there are two kinds of jealousy: fair, when envy the honors they receive the bad, the unjust: when envy the good. Envious suffer twice as much as other people, because not only bear the weight of its own problems, as the wicked, but also the goods of others. ".
Although there are signs that developed a thought is hard to rebuild itself through the texts which remain. It appears that he held a theory of things that classes can be dependent on a single, continuous and extensive, without interruption, throughout the physical world. It also seems to have been the initiator of what today would be called the social sciences and suggests that perhaps Hippias Pfeiffer is among theorists as Damon, who led a revolution that ended more independent music to the music of the word, which, earlier, was no more than an underscore. Their ideology is reflected by Xenophon sophist in "Memoirs of Socrates 4.5 ss IV, where Hippias and Socrates chatting about what is right. The first gives his opinion: "How can you, Socrates, to consider the laws and obey them, a serious matter, when often the same people who advocate the change, them as inappropriate?". Hippias gives new guidance to the classic debate physis / nomos applying the analysis to the origin and legitimacy of the laws.
Its influence on the mathematics of the time was crucial. Proclus in his Commentary on the First Book of Euclid's Elements "presents the history of mathematics Eudemus of Rhodes, which, in turn, depended for the period prior to Plato, Hippias. He was known for the discovery of cuadratiz, which was a geometric procedure for the trisection of an angle, as well as for his work on squaring the circle.

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