105-114

The teaching of the Sophists and the Socratic concept of virtue

• Κωνσταντινόπουλος, Βασίλειος Λ.

The movement of the Sophists that flourished in 5th century Athens, as an intellectual offspring of democracy, was instrumental in encouraging free thinking and in questioning traditional values. However, it also promoted a relativistic approach of moral principles, cultivating ethical ambivalence based on the display of rhetorical abilities. Socrates, on the other hand, maintained that moral wickedness is due to mere ignorance, and that the knowledge of virtue by means of logical principles can produce better citizens, as he himself proved by sacrificing his life instead of contravening the laws of Athens that had condemned him to death.

• Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

• Θεωρία (Φιλοσοφία)

σοφιστές

Αποτελεί εισήγηση πού παρουσιάστηκε στο πλαίσιο τοΰ Συμποσίου «Ό Σωκράτης στήν ελληνική καί ιρανική σκέψη», τήν 24.2.2007, στήν αίθουσα Κ. Παλαμά του κεντρικού κτηρίου του Συλλόγου., Περιέχει βιβλιογραφία