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CHAPTER 3
THE SOPHISTS: PROTAGORAS
INSTRUCTIONS: Select the best answer according to the text.
TRUE/FALSE
1. According to Plato, increasing democratization and
sophistication led to the emergence of the first Athenian
sophists.
2. Ethnocentric cultures view their ways as superior to
all others.
3. The term barbarian derives from Greek roots meaning
blood letter.
4. The sophists were originally amateur teachers who only
reluctantly accepted money from insistent followers.
5. Athens experienced a cultural crisis brought on by its
increasing openness and prosperity.
6. Both the sophos and Sophists were professional
philosophers and teachers.
7. The Sophists taught that good and bad are defined by
nature.
8. The two basic varieties of moral relativism are cultural
and intellectual.
9. Protagoras was one of the later Sophists who taught that
might makes right.
10. Protagoras claimed that all things are measured against
nature s standard.
11. Protagoras was a pragmatist.
12. Callicles preached the doctrine of social obligation
known as the common good.
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MULTIPLE CHOICE
13. The term ethnocentrism derives from Greek roots
meaning _____ .
a. man is the center of the cosmos
b. the individual is central
c. the group is the center
d. ethics are fundamental
14. The belief that values reflect the preferences and
customs of a given culture is known as _____ .
a. cultural relativism
b. moral relativism
c. individual relativism
d. preferential relativism
15. _____ is a significant factor in the development
of sophistry?
a. Improved trade routes
b. Migration to Athens
c. The emergence of a successful middle class
d. Each of these factors was a significant factor.
16. Sophists taught that _____ .
a. so-called power derives from truth
b. so-called truth is subservient to power
c. truth is power
d. goodness is the ultimate virtue
17. Which of the following was most important to the
sophists?
a. appearance
b. talent
c. intelligence
d. winning
18. The term barbarian _____ .
a. originally meant powerful foe
b. was invented to mock people who did not speak
Greek
c. is derived from the Egyptian baibis, meaning
full of passion
d. originally meant nonphilosopher
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19. The belief that knowledge is determined by specific
qualities of the observer is known as _____ .
a. individualism
b. relativism
c. ethnocentrism
d. sophistry
21. Socrates _____ .
a. agreed with the Sophists that teachers deserved
to get paid but disagreed over how much they
should charge
b. agreed with the Sophists that teachers deserved to
get paid but disagreed over what they should teach
c. said that it was wrong to take money to teach
d. insisted that it was wrong not to demand high fees
for teaching because the amount of a teacher s fees
reflected the importance of his knowledge
21. The belief that no matter how far back we push
ultimate reasons, they always reduce to someone s
preference is known as _____ .
a. cultural relativism
b. moral relativism
c. individual relativism
d. preferential relativism
22. Perhaps the greatest of the Sophists was _____ .
a. Gorgias
b. Callicles
c. Thrasymachus
d. Protagoras
23. _____ said that Man is the measure of all things.
a. Thrasymachus
b. Protagoras
c. Callicles
d. Shakespeare
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24. The pragmatic point of view holds that _____ .
a. there is only one truth but that it has many uses
b. ideas have truth value to the extent that they
produce practical results
c. the superior individual has more practical
value than a mob of inferior people
d. all values ultimately reduce to some form of power
25. According to Protagoras, the most practical course for
most of us _____ .
a. is to follow our most powerful urges because they
always point to what we need in order to be happy
b. involves looking out for number one, no matter how
it affects others
c. involves behaving in a conventional way
d. is to strike first, keeping others always off balance
and afraid of us
26. Protagoras s wager concerned _____ .
a. gambling that the previous winter s freeze would
result in increased demand for olive oil
b. which of two admirals would return to Athens first
with a shipment of sweetmeats
c. his disagreement with Thrasymachus over who
had the most followers
d. a dispute with Eulathus over tuition
27. According to the Sophists, _____ .
a. might makes right
b. right makes might
c. absolute power corrupts absolutely
d. a few very basic values are not relative
28. According to a moral realist, _____ .
a. the prevalent values in all areas of life reflect
the interests of the strong
b. while other values reflect objective qualities,
moral values assert unrealistic subjective values
c. it is more realistic to seek goodness than happiness
d. we all know what s right and wrong if we are honest
about it
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29. _____ taught that it is wrong for the superior individual
to suffer at all.
a. Socrates
b. Protagoras
c. Pythagoras
d. Callicles
30. _____ is an example of a sophistic technique mentioned
in the text.
a. Eulathus s whistle
b. Gorgias s Birkenstocks
c. Darrow s cigar
d. Ringer s cap
31. The ring of Gyges presents the _____ position.
a. moralist s
b. functionalist s
c. democrat s
d. egoist s
32. The story of the ring of Gyges concerns _____ .
a. levels of reality and a cave
b. a shepherd and a king
c. a king and a prisoner in a cave
d. a shepherd and a wise man
33. _____ is an example of a sophistic technique mentioned in
the text.
a. Barack Obama s chuckle
b. O. J. Simpson s shabby clothes
c. The woman who sued McDonald s for serving
hot coffee
d. George W. Bush s boots
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Chapter 3
THE SOPHISTS: PROTAGORAS
1. Describe the circumstances that led to the change from sophos
to Sophist. What is a Sophist? Identify and explain three or four
specific sophistic ideas.
2. Make a convincing case that advertisers are sophists. What
would nonsophistic advertising be like? Do you agree that
advertisers are Sophists? Explain.
3. Make a convincing case that most politicians are sophists. How
does a nonsophistic politician differ from one who is a sophist? Is it
possible to be a successful politician without ever resorting to
sophistry? Explain. *
4. Is there any merit to the claim that modern colleges and
universities are sophistic in their attempts to compete for students?
What trends in contemporary education might be viewed as
sophistic? Are they? Analyze. *
5. Briefly distinguish different kinds of relativism. Is there
something logically funny about the claim that all values are
relative? Analyze carefully.
6. Discuss Protagoras s notion that disagreements can be cured.
7. What s wrong with believing whatever makes you happy? Are
there any truly harmful consequences to believing in astrology or in
the medicinal efficacy of prayer? That is, on what grounds can one
person object to another person s standard of happiness? On what
grounds can we question the beliefs of others if we haven t had
similar experiences? If we are justified in questioning and rejecting
the beliefs of others because they do not conform to our standards,
on what grounds can we refute their rejection of our beliefs? That
is, on what grounds can we evade the sophists arguments that all
beliefs are relative? If the sophists are right, then what? *
8. Is there a contradiction involved in the way the Sophists present
their doctrine that might makes right ? Can you present a better
version of it? *
9. Is there any way to refute the idea that might makes right?
Explain why or why not. *
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10. Some American environmentalists are actively working to
reduce the effects of global warming by limiting the use of energy
resources and by restricting industrial practices in other parts of the
world. Use this issue (or another of your choosing) to discuss
whether or not it is fair for one culture (or subculture) to impose
its values on another. Is there some absolute standard of justice or
human rights? You will need to do some research. *
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CHAPTER 3 ANSWERS