Ancient Greece & Rome · School

The Sophists

Travelling teachers of rhetoric and argument who taught for a fee; Protagoras' 'man is the measure of all things' shifted philosophy's centre from nature to humanity.

Representative figures · 2

Protagoras普罗泰戈拉

The Sophistsc. 490–420 BCE

The most famous Sophist; 'man is the measure of all things' made truth relative to each person and turned philosophy toward human affairs.

Gorgias高尔吉亚

The Sophistsc. 483–375 BCE

Master of rhetoric who denied being, knowledge and communication in three theses, and treated language as a kind of spell.