Protagorus
Protagorus (490-420) Like Gargias, Protagorus taught grammar and rhetoric. So skilled was he as persuasive speech that he called himself a Sophist (expert craftsman) and gave lessons for a fee (unlike the philosophers of the time). Although Sophists instituted the first educational system, they were criticized for being money oriented. If info-mercials had been available at the time, Protagorus would have had one on persuasive speech. He would have told the audience that truth is not absolute; it is a matter of opinion. And opinions can be changed with persuasive speech, if you know how; and for a fee Protagorus (like “spin doctors” of today) would teach you how. Not only was Protagorus criticized for distorting philosophy into a business, his ideas were considered dangerous. If “man is the measure of all things,” no rules could be uniformly applied. Such radical teaching was thought to be subversive, and Protagoras was forced into exile. He drowned enroute to Sicily.
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