GEED 10093: ETHICS
MODULE 3 & 4: SOPHIST & PLATO AND SOCRATES
2ND SEMESTER | S.Y. 2020-2021
DATE: MAY 21, 2021
TOPIC
SUB TOPIC
SUB-SUB TOPIC
OTHER DETAILS
Truth-telling
narrative
discourse
Heraclitus — fire is the principle of all that exists
Thales — water
Pythagoras — numbers
THE RISE OF REASON
Sophists
 [Greek] sophos (wise)
“Unexamined life is not worth living.” [Socrates]
“who am I?” – reason and observation
“Ang naniniwala sa sabi-sabi, walang bait sa sarili"
[Filipino saying]
Sophists established 2 crucial principles:
1. The difference between the way things
appear and the way they really are
2. There are unseen causes of events; things
happen as they do for some reason
They were noted for their attempts to use reason
and observation to figure out how the world works.
FROM THEO-CENTRISM TO ANTHROPOCENTRISM
 Sophists are also known as the Pre-Socratics
o search for rational explanations that
mythology could not answer
 use of reason to order, clarify, identify reality
and truth
 triggered questions of logical consistency, rules
of thinking, standards of knowledge
SPECIALIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
 created a demand for specialized education in
subjects such as letters (literature), rhetoric,
science, statesmanship, and philosophy
3R [reading, writing, arithmetic, poetry, geometry]
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 the belief that all values are culturally
determined
Those who considered themselves original, true
Athenians became increasingly ethnocentric.
Ethnocentrism — own customs and values
superior to others
SOPHISTS
 first professional educators
 a group of wandering teachers who charged
a fee to teach
Argued that the difference of good and bad
argument is custom and individual preference
The Problem of Knowledge and Language
 can we know?
 can we share our knowledge
Rhetoric — the art of effective/persuasive
speaking or writing; use of figures of speech and
other techniques
Its language is designed to have an
impressive effect on the audience but often
regarded as lacking in sincerity/meaningful content
OTHER DETAILS
21 senses
things change
o seed > seedling > tree > log >
lumber > chair > fuel > coal > dust
language to share knowledge with others
RELATIVISM
 belief that knowledge is determined by
specific qualities of the observer (age,
ethnicity, gender, cultural conditioning)
Moral Relativism
 Sophists argued that truth is relative, and  virtue is wisdom
knowledge is determined by specific qualities o ability to render good judgment (wisdom)
of the observer produces behavioral results guided by
o virtually nothing is good nor bad by nature, beliefs
only by custom and preference
SOCRATIC PLATO
Consequence: if no ultimate truth exists, no moral
code is universally correct/absolutely superior to "Can we know?”
any other Plato: Yes.
PROTAGORAS OF ABDERA (481-411 BC)  Allegory of the Cave
“Man is the measure of all things.”

 morals are nothing more than social

traditions/mores of a group
 impossible to form a culture-free/context-
free belief
 ethical standard based on a society
A truly wise observer is to record accurately and
describe without bias what works and what doesn’t
work  Theory of the Divided Line

MORAL REALISM

 a pragmatic social philosophy unfettered by

any moral consideration expressed in the
formula - "might makes right"
 the belief that all values reflect the interests of
the strong

CALLICLES (c. 435 BCE)

 associated with the doctrine of the superior

individual (moral realism) PLATO’S METAPHYSICS
o strong should dominate the weak
unmutable
 right by nature from right by convention
 survival of the fittest World of forms/ideas unchangeable
o superior & powerful individual has a
natural right to dominate others
World of sensible/matter mutable
SOCRATES
changeable
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
NATURE OF HUMAN (BODY AND SOUL)
“Know thyself!”
SPIRITUAL
 scholastic PHYSICAL (BODY)
(SOUL)
Socratic Method / Socratic Dialectic — style of Biological Psychological
philosophical inquiry Head Idea Wisdom (render
good judgment)
 series of guided questions that refined the Heart Will/Drive Courage
(endure pain)
ideas under scrutiny
Temperance
“To know good is to do the good" Stomach Appetite (control/discipline
)
  something begets something
 input > process > output
 true, right, beautiful = good
 soul controls body
 Plato’s Academia: gymnastic and athletics

PLATO’S REPUBLIC

society/social = pinaraming individual

“Man writ large” Social Justice
Spiritual (soul) Philosopher King
wisdom guardian
courage Justice soldier
temperance artisan