Philosophy in Seven Sentences By Douglas Groothuis - EXCERPT

8202019 Philosophy in Seven Sentences By Douglas Groothuis - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullphilosophy-in-seven-sentences-by-douglas-groothuis-excerpt 130

D O U G L A S G R O O T H U I S

P H I L O S O P H Y

I N S E V E N

S E N T E N C E S

A S M A L L

I N T R O D U C T I O N

T O A V A S T T O P I C





P H I L O S O P H YI N S E V E N S E N T E N C E S

A S M A L L I N T R O D U C T I O N T O A V A S T T O P I C


Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions



InterVarsity Press

PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094

ivpresscom

emailivpresscom

copy983090983088983089983094 by Douglas Groothuis

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission

from InterVarsity Press

InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a

movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools

of nursing in the United States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship

of Evangelical Students For information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg

All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from HE HOLY BIBLE NEW

INERNAIONAL VERSION reg NIVreg Copyright copy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica Inctrade

Used by permission All rights reserved worldwide

Cover design David Fassett

Interior design Beth McGill

Images copy tomografiStockphoto

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983091-983097 (print)

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983090983095-983090 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use of natural resources o learnmore visit greenpressinitiativeorg

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Groothuis Douglas R 983089983097983093983095-

Philosophy in seven sentences a small introduction to a vast topic Douglas Groothuis

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983091-983097 (pbk alk paper)

983089 PhilosophymdashIntroductions 983090 PhilosophymdashHistory I itle

BD983090983089G983095983094 983090983088983089983094

983089983088983088mdashdc983090983091

983090983088983089983093983088983091983094983088983093983092

P 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089

Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094




CONTENTS

Preface 983097

Introduction Philosophy in Only Seven Sentences 983089983089

983089 P 983090983089 Man is the measure of all things

983090 S 983091983093

he unexamined life is not worth living

983091 A 983092983097

All men by nature desire to know

983092 A 983094983093

You have made us for yourself and restless is

our heart until it comes to rest in you

983093 D 983096983089

I think therefore I am

983094 P 983097983097he heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing

983095 K 983089983090983089

he greatest hazard of all losing onersquos self can

occur very quietly in the world as if it were nothing at all

Conclusion What About Tese Seven Sentences

or A Final Provocation 983089983092983091

Notes 983089983092983095

Index 983089983093983095




PREFACE

Inspiration is an odd beast enlightening here and deceiving

there Inspiration sometimes comes through epiphany seem-

ingly out of nowhere and resplendent with originality and beauty

Some works of great music appear in this way Friedrich

Nietzsche wrote his anti-Gospel Tus Spoke Zarathustra in a

fit of literary effusion lasting only two weeks Te result hasbaffled millions for a century

Philosophy in Seven Sentences came into being rather quickly

after a lifetime of engaging philosophy after many discussions

and arguments about philosophy after three academic degrees

in philosophy after attending (too) many conferences about phi-

losophy after grading many papers about philosophy (both

good and evil) after publishing much about philosophy after

changing some of my views on philosophy and after sometimes

questioning my own ability to do philosophy well

I was inspired by recent popular books featuring numbers

and objects in the titles such as A History of the World in

Objects by Neil MacGregor A History of the World in Six Glasses

by om Standage and Te Smithsonianrsquos History of America in Objects by Richard Kurin My object for organizing and in-

troducing philosophy was not a physical object but an object of

thought a sentence Te number seven seemed right given the




P S S

alliteration and because I was drawn to just these philosophi-

cally pregnant sentences My hope is that the book will introduce

the beginner to the craft of philosophy A seasoned reader might

find ideas worth consulting afresh or even for the first time

Philosophy is a many-splendored discipline Miniature books

such as this must fail to lasso everything and will leave many

critters hurdling about in the pasture unnamed and unattended

o talk shop Philosophy in Seven Sentences is most concerned

with epistemology (how and what we can know) and metaphysics (the study of being) ravelers through the book will also read a

bit about moral philosophy and aesthetics

Philosophers have biographies although their philosophies

are not limited to their biographies So each chapter includes a

bit of their stories (A few of my stories appear as well) Since

philosophers argue and agree with other philosophers I con-

sider their intellectual relationship with others in the guild par-

ticularly those philosophers whose sentences we engage Dia-

logue and debate down through the ages is the conversation of

philosophy Overhearing it may spark truth in our souls or at

least clear away some errors of thought

I do not take up theology directly but each of the seven sen-

tences bears on questions concerning God the universe andhumanity I am not sure why anyone would be interested in phi-

losophy otherwise

I have many to thank but room for only a few Jason Crowder

found references for Augustine and Pascal that eluded me (to my

shame) My colleague Sarah Geis gave excellent commentary on

Descartes Elizabeth Johnson contributed some dandy editing

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis prayed for this book project as she

has for all my other ones Tanks also to the administration of

Denver Seminary for granting me a sabbatical during which

much of this work was done




Introduction

PHILOSOPHY IN ONLY

SEVEN SENTENCES

Can we tackle some of the key questions and answers in

philosophy through just seven sentences by seven famous

philosophers I wager we can so we will Many other sentencesmdash

or paragraphs or booksmdashcould have made the cut Because of

this some will argue that my selection was biased ignorant or

slanted If so let them philosophize over it After all that is the

purpose of this book to think and act philosophically

I make no claim that Philosophy in Seven Sentences is repre-

sentative of philosophy as a whole I chose these authors and

their sentences for several reasons First I was familiar with

them As I point out several times many of these ideas havedeep autobiographical significance to me Second they raise

issues pertinent to our day Tird each sentence is fairly well

known none is esoteric1 I also chose these authors because

their arguments were clear enough to be well suited to philo-

sophical analysis even on a popular level2

Some may think that popular philosophy is an oxymoron a

silly contradiction not worthy of a momentrsquos thought Phi-losophy is of course for expertsmdashthose who have accumulated

vast student-loan debts after which they have logged long and

lonely years in the classroom studying at their desks and ar-




P S S

guing with other philosophers about philosophy Tese strange

souls are abstruse esoteric recondite and many other long

pompous words not meant for the masses Philosophers write

for each other argue with each other and often flummox or bore

the hapless college students whose academic requirements put

them in their presence

And so it is for many philosophers but not for all of them At

its most ancient root philosophy was meant to initiate us into

ldquothe good liferdquo to tutor us for the ongoing experience ofknowledge and virtue Since everyone lives some kind of life

philosophy explored the mindrsquos abilities to live life in accord

with reality At best it helps scratch the itch of human exis-

tencemdashor at its worst it rubs the wound raw Even though ety-

mology (the study of word origins) may deceive it does its work

well in understanding the origin of philosophy telling us that

its two Greek parts are love ( philos) and wisdom ( sophos) Phi-

losophers may not always love wisdom but that is their disci-

plinersquos pedigree Te Hebrew Bible warns in the book of

Proverbs that both wisdom and folly call out for reflection and

allegiance Te wise are diligent in learning facing the facts in

earnest while the fool sacrifices character for ignorance and

untutored pleasure But knowledge beckons nevertheless atleast in our better moments As Aristotle wrote ldquoAll men by

nature desire to knowrdquo (We will examine this sentence shortly)

Any thinking person may join philosophyrsquos discussion which

rings down through the ages Tat is the aim of this small book

which I hope can be read profitably by both philosophical neo-

phytes and seasoned philosophers whatever their worldview

may be My aims are catholic (universal) however parochial my

selections may seem to some

Philosophy is not a closed club or a secret society Since we

all can think about ultimate questions letrsquos do it For the record




Philosophy in Only Seven Sentences

I propose that the requirements for being a philosopher (whether

good or bad major or minor professional or layperson) are a

strong and lived-out inclination to pursue truth through the rig-

orous use of human reasoning and to do so with some intel-

lectual facility But sadly even some philosophers disavow the

search for truth In Whatrsquos the Use of ruth French philosopher

Pascal Engel writes ldquoTere is no obligation to say or to be-

lieve that which is truerdquo3 If so why should we read his writings

or those of any other philosopherIs then everyone a philosopher Everyone muses a bit on

where we came from who we are and where we are going But

not all do this very well So while Johnny Rotten (b ) of the

Sex Pistols addressed some philosophical themes in his punk

rock compositions and performances one is reluctant to give

him the title of philosopher Tis is because it is a kind of merit

badge reserved for the few I was recently asked by a precocious

ten-year-old named Liam if I was a philosopher I said I was

Ten he asked ldquoWhat do you dordquo My reply was ldquoI think a lot

about argumentsrdquo We then discussed the nature of an argument

With a little coaxing he told me what an argument was giving

reasons for what you believe often in conversations with those

who believe otherwise I have recruited him for graduate studyin my program

o enjoin the discussion of philosophy I will appeal to seven

sentences all of which are short but none of which are trivial

Some are more renowned than others A few of them are famous

Tese statements are not impenetrable deceiving the unwary

inquirer with obscurity masquerading as profundity Sadly not

a few philosophers cloak their ideas with idiosyncrasies and un-

necessary jargon Not so for a Socrates or Jesus who went about

speaking the common tongue in uncommon ways to both

common and uncommon people Te public square was their




P S S

classroom and all comers were their students Neither wrote a

word but their words are unforgettable as we will see Teir

ideas are affirmed and denied by the simplest and most sophis-

ticated thinkers

While we cannot directly encounter the likes of Socrates or

Jesusmdashor the more bookish philosophers such as Plato Aris-

totle Augustine Descartes and kindredmdashwe can interrogate

them and investigate the perennial questions they address the

nature of truth how we gain knowledge the meaning of humanexistence death the source of morality and more In my many

years as a teacher and learner of this antique art I find to my

dismay that too many students too often give up too soon Tey

face an intellectual difficulty some demanding reading or differ-

ences of opinion and they cash in their chips despite my provo-

cations cajoling and (on occasion) anger It need not be and

should not be so S Eliot should kindle a flame in us ldquoBut our

lot crawls between dry ribs to keep our metaphysics warmrdquo4

I first read Eliotrsquos line in and never forgot it Who could

unless he or she were skimming Martin Heidegger despite his

murky prose was right in calling our lives a ldquobeing unto deathrdquo

because our eventual demisemdashgradual or instantmdashbrackets

everything we think or do or hope ldquoNo one gets out of here aliverdquois no tired clicheacute unhappily Samuel Johnson put it well ldquoDepend

upon it Sir when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight

it concentrates his mind wonderfullyrdquo5 Our mortality sets limits

on all our endeavors including philosophizing Tere is like it

or not a flashing stop sign ahead on the road So why not think

well now Or at least try to We can take or steal some calmly

measured time to muse on what matters most and we have

some guidesmdashepitomized by their sentencesmdashto light the way

or at least to rebuke our intellectual laziness Let me introduce

them in historical order





S S

Protagoras is not a household name Google him and find out(Te first entry is not surprisingly Wikipedia) Nor do you find

many academic titles analyzing his ideas although he is often

grouped with the Sophists Tis is considered a disreputable

crowd by some wags and is even a byword ldquoYou sophistrdquo Te

charge is that Sophists cared nothing for truth but cared every-

thing about being paid to philosophize for a vested interest

More on these philosophers-for-hire later Even so this oldGreek crystallizes the thought of not a few philosophers and

nonphilosophers Our chosen sentence sums it up

Man is the measure of all things of the things which are

that they are and of things which are not that they are not6

Protagoras gives wings to an idea that many ponder try our

hardest (or not try at all) we cannot break free of ourselvesmdashour

senses our viewpoints our values even our ldquostuffrdquo Te world is

our judgment and nothing more It does not await our judgment

it is our judgment Tere is no objective truth but only various

views from various places at various times by various people

Tings are not our measure but we are the measure of them

Hence Protagoras is the spokesman for relativism sometimescalled nonrealism or perspectivism It is not just that we have no

(or limited) access to objective reality Tat is skepticism Reality

is pretty much exhausted by our perceptions and thoughts Te

real world is our world Myriads have measured Protagoras

wrong at least on this but no one in pursuit of knowledge and

wisdom can ignore him His ghost haunts us still Is there a phil-

osophical exorcist aboutOur next sentence is often heard but seldom digested I un-

failingly quote it in my first class of introduction to philosophy

ldquoTe unexamined life is not worth livingrdquo I attempt to coax my




P S S

students to live this waymdashfor their sakes and mine (It makes for

better papers too) Tus said Socrates the gadfly (or pain-in-

the-neck) of ancient Athens Like Protagoras we know of

Socrates through those who knew his work but unlike Pro-

tagoras we have more substantial sources particularly Plato

And Socrates is a household name Not incidentally the man

who was not an author ended up being the inspiration for the

prolific Plato who was the worldrsquos first systematic philosopher

As philosopher Alfred North Whitehead discerned ldquoTe safestgeneral characterization of the European philosophical tradition

is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Platordquo7 Te footnotes

may praise (Augustine) or blame (Aristotle) but footnotes are

everywhere as well as entire volumes

aking up Socratesrsquos philosophical challenge means exam-

ining just what his famous sentence means in itself and what it

means for us What might an examined life be given the distrac-

tions and overstimulation of postmodern times For Socrates

there is a way to calm the mind and search things out But is

there a place for Socratic dialogue today outside the Socratic

method of many law schools Further old Plato Socratesrsquos

chronicler and student may offer us wisdom pertaining to the

nagging questions of philosophy as he spurns the work of the philodoxers (lovers of opinion) and promotes the call of the phi-

losophers (lovers of wisdom) Worse yet were the misologists (one

of the Platonic corpusrsquos most winning words) those who took an

active role in hating the use of reason itself We may find some

today even in educated enclaves or even on the bestsellers lists

But one can also find Aristotle in popular bookstores always

in the philosophy section (along with less prestigious volumes

such as Led Zeppelin and Philosophy which we must pass over

without further comment) When Aristotle wrote ldquoAll men by

nature desire to knowrdquo he did not mean just the scholars or





teachers but ldquomanrdquomdashthe human race in all its circumstances and

variations Tat means every person whatever social standing

vocation or intelligence Although Aristotle was no egalitarian

(he thought that women were inferior to men and that some were

born to be slaves) he nevertheless appeals to a universal human

condition the desire to get reality right in the time that we have

Augustine the first great Christian philosopher like Socrates

before him strikes a personal note concerning getting reality

right Having examined himself and the leading philosophies ofhis day (including Plato and his footnotes) he confesses with a

cry of the heart addressed to God ldquoYou have made us for

yourself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in yourdquo

Tis cry is not commonplace as in ldquoMy spirituality gives me

meaningrdquo It is instead the beginning of an argument told in his

autobiography In fact it may be the first autobiography on

record It is no doubt the first philosophical autobiography (if

we exclude the book of Ecclesiastes) Te irascible Jean-Jacques

Rousseau is well known for his autobiography as well but a short

book can only do so much8

Skipping madly over much philosophical history (without any

irreverence or glibness) we arrive at Reneacute Descartes the much

maligned but seldom understood ldquofather of modern philosophyrdquoDescartes was troubled by opinions without backingmdashthose

ideas about ultimate matters untethered from certainty Skep-

ticism was his foe as it is in one way or another for any philos-

opher Tis is because the question arises How do you know

what you claim to know Mere social position or historical tra-

dition will not cinch the deal for this philosopher and scientist

In our language (which itself needs interrogation) the man

ldquowanted proofrdquo While ldquoI donrsquot knowrdquo is often the most knowl-

edgeable answer it should not be the default response according

to Descartes Tis apprehension led him on a quest that began




P S S

with himself Like Augustine but in briefer scope he put this in

autobiographical form in Discourse on Method and to some

extent in Meditations on First Philosophy But Descartesrsquos quest

did not end with himself unlike so much contemporary self-

help literature He is famous for the sentence ldquoI think therefore

I amrdquo But God himself has something to do with that sentence

For Descartes there was no leap of faith in it either Reason was

the guide But how far can reason take us

A contemporary of Descartes had an idea ldquoTe heart has itsreasons that reason knows nothing ofrdquo wrote Blaise Pascal who

was the best phrasemaker of the lot of our philosophers Tis

statement is a window into a worldview Humans have the ca-

pacity to calculate and reason methodically but they may also

know some things by tracing out the contours and resources of

ldquothe heartrdquomdashanother organ of knowledge Philosophers study

many thinkers but few come to love few of them (My graduate

seminar on Kantrsquos Critique of Pure Reason was well worth it but

was no love affair) Pascal on the contrary is much loved by many

He is so loved that people even love things he never actually said

such as ldquoTere is a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fillrdquo

But this paraphrase is not far off the mark though it should be

placed within a larger perspective of Pascalrsquos philosophyTe French polymathrsquos philosophy is far more fascinating than

the CliffsNotes version allows Pascal did not put faith in place

of reason and he was not a one-trick philosopher (Pascalrsquos

wager) Slander and libel have fouled the air about him ob-

scuring his sophisticated treatment of the cost-benefit sense of

believing in religion or not Yet he was neither knave nor poser

Te founder of probability theory and the inventor of the first

working calculating machine had reasons for faith Like Des-

cartes he was bugged by skepticism and like Descartes he ap-

pealed to human nature as a place to start the discussion





Our last sentence is not as well known as the previous ones

but it opens a door of inquiry for us

Te greatest hazard of all losing onersquos self can occur very

quietly in the world as if it were nothing at all

It was penned by an idiosyncratic and famously melancholy

Dane named Soslashren Kierkegaard a philosopher intensely inter-

ested in the self in relation to ultimate reality Tis should sound

familiar since all philosophers have expressed this interest inone way or another But Kierkegaardrsquos way was in a sense as

much psychological as philosophical He intrepidly limned the

inner workings of the self of consciousness in philosophical

categories Like Pascal Kierkegaard wanted to strip away

through existential analysis the layers and dynamics of the self

that keep reality at bay Unlike Pascal and the other philosophers

he was more interested in the analysis of the self than presentingit with arguments for an abstract objective reality Tis may

sound a bit unphilosophical but it is not But that takes time to

tease out properly as I hope you will see

Our seven sentences may be viewed as several doors into

worlds previously unknown Or they may be our irritants to

prod us to move away from facile factoidsmdashldquoDo your own thingrdquoldquoFollow your blissrdquo ldquoKeep Calm and Carry Onrdquomdashto more so-

bering reflections9 Perhaps the sentences are bridges to other

lands of thought Tese philosophical sentences do not sum the

thought of any of the philosophers for these thinkers are far too

deep for that Nor do the seven sentences aim to summarize the

history of philosophy Tat would be a pompous and laughable

claim Some things cannot be put into a nutshell including thenutshell itself But I claim that philosophical activity can be

sparked by just seven sterling sentencesmdashand who knows where

it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS

Man is the measure of all things

P

Greeks could do philosophy Te basic questions of exis-

tence have never been far from the human mind but the

ancient Greeks excelled at this and their musingsmdashsome frag-

mentary or secondhandmdashhave been preserved in written texts

However much philosophy occurred in exclusively oral cultures

the Greeks valued writing in addition to oral memory and tra-

dition Socrates you remember wrote nothing but generated a vast literature though his dialogues A lesser-known figure who

came after him did write a few things and his famous adage is

worth considering

Protagoras (fifth century BC) is not to be confused with

like-sounding ancient Greek thinkers named Pythagoras or

Parmenides who along with others were pre-Socratic thinkers

(Tis shows the significance of Socrates since philosophy isdated with respect to his life) Tese thinkers are worth inter-

rogating as well and I studied them with profit in a year-long

course in ancient philosophy forty years ago Protagoras




P S S

stands out to us though because of his adage about absolute

assessment



His claim is not simply that people measure thingsmdashsuch as

character chariots boats and fishmdashbut that each human is the

measure Each person is the assessment or judgment What

could this mean No person is a slide ruler or scale or Geigercounter although we avail ourselves of such things

W I M

We tend to think that people use a standard of measurement

outside of themselves Even inadequate and one-dimensional

measures such as onersquos IQ score are not determined by how we

feel about themmdashand Mensa is very picky about thisOn the other hand Protagoras has Shakespearersquos Hamlet on

his side at least concerning morality ldquoFor there is nothing either

good or bad but thinking makes it sordquo2 Tat is morals do not

have objective standing rather they are judged differently by

different people Tis quote is from a discussion about Denmark

which Hamlet unlike his interlocutor Rosencrantz said was ldquoaprisonrdquo If Hamlet is right then both Hamlet and Rosencrantz

are right about Denmark

What then was Protagorasrsquos point (Wersquoll put serious Shake-

spearian interpretation aside) o find out we need to take a step

back into the Greek philosophical scene and not rush to

judgmentmdashor rush to endorsement either Protagoras would ap-

prove of this deliberationProtagoras was considered the chief of the Sophists intellec-

tuals who were paid to defend the views of their sponsors Tey

were accomplished orators as well as thinkers Originally the




Protagoras

term sophist meant something like our ldquoprofessorrdquo but later a

Sophist was deemed a hired gun a philosopher for hire and one

having no principles of his own Teir arguments supposedly

were merely the instruments of the will of their bosses One may

argue over the virtues of the Sophists but it is certainly not true

that being paid for philosophizing necessarily disqualifies the

employeersquos arguments On the other hand if we think of a

Sophist as something like a political speech writer or the like

our judgment will change Whatever the intellectual rectitudeof Protagoras he was a perpetual lecturer who articulated and

debated ideas in the marketplace a marketplace of ideas that yet

exists We may join in the discussion

M P

Protagoras was one of a spirited group of fastidious thinkers

who tired or at least grew skeptical of Greek mythology with

its pantheon of gods Yes the stories of the gods were often riv-

eting and worth repeating A recent volume by Luc Ferry is

called Te Wisdom of the Myths How Greek Mythology Can

Change Your Life3 Tere was always a moral to the story Her-

cules the last son of Zeus was a dashing and dramatic character

who started as a mighty mortal and became a god upon deathAlthough a bit impetuous and lacking in sobriety he plays well

as a hero Zeus himself is the apotheosis of power but acts

largely without moral authority Even the might of Zeus does not

support the idea that ldquomight makes rightrdquo since might may make

for divine mischief My point is not to survey or psychoanalyze

the denizens of Greek mythology but to make a general point

Mythologies may inspire and guide to some extent our relation

to the hard facts of family life death and sexuality (and some of

the gods tended to be naughty in this way)

Nevertheless the problem with Greek mythology (or any




P S S

mythology Eastern or Western) is simply that it is mythology it

is neither history nor clearly articulated philosophy In too many

ways the gods despite their thespian reacutesumeacutes and magical

powers were not much more than semi- glorified mortals Tis

was the objection of a growing group of Greeks who were mere

mortalsmdashmortals with meaning metaphysics and morality on

their minds And what might the mind do when free to explore

life and its questions apart from the venerable stories of Greek

fascination It might philosophize and so it didProtagoras and his cohorts quested for explanations of a more

abstract but also compelling sort than the old tales could afford

Tey sought principles to explain facts in a universal and logi-

cally coherent manner o be a little unfair to the mythologies

consider the tooth fairy She adds some magical benevolence to

the loss and placement of a baby tooth for children but the fairy

story adds nothing about the nature of benevolence the signifi-

cance of teeth or the significance of the humans who grow and

lose these teeth whether through development (teething) or

decay (the toothless)

Tus to give one example Tales of Miletus tried to find a

cosmic commonality to all things He divined it as water Yes

water which was more than rain oceans lakes and puddles Itwas everywhere so perhaps it was the root and branch of every-

thing Water or moisture in general lives in the clouds in plants

in animals (aquatic land or amphibious) and in thirsty mortals

It condenses and evaporates but never leaves the planet Con-

sidering the presence and power of water Tales extrapolated

that water was more than one more thing on earth however

necessary for life It was rather the unifying principle for exis-

tence Whatever we think of Tales his thinking is not absurd

and it indicates a thirst for philosophical explanation as opposed

to mythological meanderings At least he was trying




Protagoras

D W D R

But it is Protagoras who calls for our attention Instead of ar-guing for something at the heart of everything (water for Tales)

a principle found in nature Protagoras moved back from nature

to the self After all skeptics had questioned mere mortalsrsquo

ability to know with any confidence what is out there inde-

pendent of themselves Te jaundiced eye sees things differently

from the nonjaundiced eye Children perceive entities invisible

to adults Adults sometimes hallucinatemdashbut perhaps they areseeing what most miss One woman feels cold in a room of degF

and another feels hot Age alters hearing seeing memory and

may jangle judgments Te upshot is that we cannot find a place

to stand to see the world as it is We are simply ill-equipped to

do so Objective truth what is independent of our perceptions

endlessly and mercilessly eludes us

We will return to skepticism when discussing Descartes and

Pascal but Protagoras was not a skeptic He did not withhold

judgments about facts in themselves because we do not have the

ability to know them While recognizing that the skeptics had

dethroned our intellectual confidence in capturing objective re-

ality his point of departure was this we do know our own view-

points judgments and beliefs Tat is we measure things theydo not measure themselves So I take most of Francis Baconrsquos

paintings to be ugly and thus unattractive I am repulsed Tis is

the end of the story or my story Tis is my measurement You

on the contrary may find delight in Baconrsquos tortured figures and

color schemes Tat is your measurement and the end of your

story

Now reconsider the skeptical point made earlier One person

can deem the room cold and another hot Te skeptic might say

we cannot know then what the room is given the variability in

perception But Protagoras claims that the room is hot for person




P S S

A and not hot for person B Tere is no contradiction since we

are considering individual perceptions Tere are two measure-

ments each of which is valid Tus Bacon is barbaric to me and

beautiful to youmdashand that is the level best we can do Or perhaps

I will come to adore Baconrsquos paintings and heap scorn on my

former judgment If so then that is my measurement

Tis is rather attractive at first blush After all there is no

dispute in matters of taste or to be more snobby De gustibus

non est disputandum Te avant-garde saxophone playing ofPeter Broumltzmann can send me into the upper reaches of aes-

thetic delight while sending others scurrying from the room

while covering their ears But Protagoras took this insight far

beyond artistic judgments Notice the reference range (or extent)

of Protagorasrsquos statement ldquoMan is the measure of all thingsrdquomdash

matters of taste as well as matters of fact matters of principle

and matters of matter Nothing is excluded

Let us follow this out As we think it through the old Greek

will sound much like modern man If Protagoras is right then

there is no disputing matters of morality either Man is the

measure of what is right and what is wrong what is virtuous and

what is vicious what should be loved and what should be hatedmdash

just as Hamlet claimed oday this thinking is usually put in thelanguage of choice instead of measurement but the idea is the

same If you chose to do X that choice is the end of the matter

Or to suit Protagoras if you measure X as worth doing then it

is worth doing Tis is true whether X refers to sailing stealing

or stampeding cattle in the direction of a Cub Scout outing

But we might say ldquoWho is to judgerdquo Who of us can stand

above him- or herself and others and become objective Yes we

recoil from some ideasmdashsuch as torturing the innocent merely

for pleasure or female genital mutilation But what does that tell

us about reality if there really is such a thing as reality Te claim




Protagoras

that ldquoman is the measure of all thingsrdquo is an all-encompassing

judgment itself Te answer to ldquoWho is to judgerdquo is that we are

the measure of all things Tat is there is nothing outside of

human judgment by which it might be judged But why would

Protagoras (or anyone else) consider that to be reality itself

P M S K

Besides being a serial killer ed Bundy was a philosophical

thinker of the Protagorean type Remarkably his philosophy wascaught on tape before he raped and killed a young woman She

was one of dozens of his prey As reported in Louis Pojmanrsquos text

Moral Philosophy Bundy said

I learned that all moral judgments are ldquovalue judgmentsrdquo

that all value judgments are subjective and that none can

be proved to be either ldquorightrdquo or ldquowrongrdquo I even read some-where that the Chief Justice of the United States had written

that the American Constitution expressed nothing more

than collective value judgments Believe it or not I figured

out for myselfmdashwhat apparently the Chief Justice couldnrsquot

figure out for himselfmdashthat if the rationality of one value

judgment was zero multiplying it by millions would not

make it one whit more rational Nor is there any ldquoreasonrdquo

to obey the law for anyone like myself who has the

boldness and daring ldquothe strength of characterrdquo to throw

off its shackles

I discovered that to become truly free truly unfettered

I had to become truly uninhibited And I quickly discovered

that the greatest obstacle to my freedom the greatest blockand limitation to it consists in the insupportable ldquovalue

judgmentrdquo that I was bound to respect the rights of others

I asked myself who were these ldquoothersrdquo Other human




P S S

beings with human rights Why is it more wrong to kill a

human animal than any other animal a pig or a sheep or a

steer Is your life more to you than a hogrsquos life to a hog

Why should I be willing to sacrifice my pleasure more for

the one than for the other Surely you would not in this

age of scientific enlightenment declare that God or nature

has marked some pleasures as ldquomoralrdquo or ldquogoodrdquo and others

as ldquoimmoralrdquo or ldquobadrdquo4

When teaching ethics to undergraduates at a secular school I

often hand out this Bundy quotation but without identifying the

speaker I then ask them to write a paragraph on whether they

agree with its basic idea Most students approve of the unknown

authorrsquos sentiments I then reveal that this statement was the

philosophy of one of the most infamous serial killers in American

historymdashthe philosophy that allowed and even impelled hisegregious crimes Next I ask them to reconsider their judg-

ments Te results are usually mixed but the majority of stu-

dents show dismay and surprise that they were in agreement

with a view that justified serial rape and murder

Yet today a television seriesmdasha comedy nonethelessmdashis about

a serial killer named Dexter o top that off there is even a book

called Dexter and Philosophy Mind over Spatter Can such atroc-

ities be lifted so easily from bloody reality and into a neutral

realm of entertainment For many it can and so they seem to

agree with Protagoras at least implicitly there is no objective

good and evil nothing sacrosanct or sacrilegious nothing above

us and nothing beneath us It is all merely neutral and we make

the callmdashon everything ldquoMan is the measure of all thingsrdquoSo then what does this sentence tell us about philosophy and

what philosophy means to us Philosophical claims if clearly

articulated give us significant matters to ponder logically and




Protagoras

existentially Tey often capture some truth and so seduce us

on this basis But a statement cannot be true unless it accords

with the way the world in fact is and the way we in fact are Pro-

tagoras does capture some truths about perspective For ex-

ample my tastes in food determine how I measure the goodness

of the food I am the measure of that at least It matters nothing

whether a connoisseur thinks me an ignoramus I can only

measure it by what I experience at the moment In that way I am

the measure but am I the expert Am I the knowerTere is a strange implication for Protagorasrsquos view In the

Teaetetus Protagoras even states that error is impossible5 Al-

though he was a teacher he cannot by his own lights teach

anyone o this Socrates inquires

If whatever the individual judges by means of perception is

true for him if no man can assess anotherrsquos experiencebetter than he or can claim authority to examine another

manrsquos judgment and see if it be right or wrong if as we

have repeatedly said only the individual himself can judge

of his own world and what he judges is always true and

correct how could it ever be my friend that Protagoras

was a wise man so wise as to think himself fit to be the

teacher of other men and worth large fees while we in

comparison with him the ignorant ones needed to go and

sit at his feetmdashwe who are ourselves each the measure of

his own wisdom6

Te gadfly of Athens made short work of a self-refuting phi-

losophy Tis should whet our appetite for the next chapter in

which Socrates takes the starring role

W I R

Similarly we find a wide variety of sounds and inscriptions in




P S S

human languages For example the general concept of cat may

be written in Chinese or in English Since each language uses

different symbols for writing its graphic inscription for cat will

differ Tis is true for voicing the word cat as well Trough a

long messy process not instigated by any central planning each

culture selects its own conventions of communication Are not

these two systems of writing measuring reality in very different

ways In point of fact they are not

Both kinds of writing systems (as well as other means ofcommunication) make claims about a reality that are outside

of the systems themselves and outside of the individuals who

use the pictographic or ideographic methods We tacitly saw

this earlier But in both cases a cat is invoked there is a single

referent Te differences in linguistic custom are not differ-

ences in content A cat is a cat in whatever language and it will

not bark however it may be measured Moreover while it may

be vexing in places one can translate a book from English to

Chinese Not everything is lost in translation in fact more is

found than is lost ranslators need have no fear of losing their

livelihood

Staying on matters of taste for a moment (and not morality

for now) are all people equally skilled in measurement Tepoet and literary critic S Eliot advocated the cultivation of

ldquoeducated tasterdquo Consider your preferences in music and

reading when you were quite young Tey are likely not the

same as when you became an adult You may still enjoy and

laugh at nursery rhymes but your tastes have expanded Yes

you still love Winnie the Pooh (and I mean the original Pooh

not the Walt Disney version) but you understand and appre-

ciate it more deeply now If so (and substitute your own ex-

amples here if needed) your tastes have at least changed and

have likely improved with age Your earlier judgments were




Protagoras

likely age appropriate but they were limited and (not unex-

pectedly) childish Te apostle Paul notes this in a well-known

turn of phrase ldquoWhen I was a child I talked like a child I

thought like a child I reasoned like a child When I became a

man I put the ways of childhood behind merdquo ( Corinthians

see also Hebrews -)

Furthermore the very notion of improvement or progress

(not merely some change in quality) requires and assumes an

objective standard by which to measure improvement (or de-cline) If a baseball batter hits in and in he

has improved based on the best possible average of Tere

is a measurement and it is not the perception of the batter that

determines this measurement Tis is the case in the arts as well

Few knowledgeable about jazz would dispute that John Col-

tranersquos saxophone work improved during his tenure with pianist

Telonious Monkrsquos quartet or that it developed further in Col-

trane own ldquoclassic quartetrdquo (ndash)7 Here the assessment is

not quantitative or statistical but qualitative One might object

that this is a purely subjective judgment (such as whether one

feels hot or not) which is relative to the person hearing Who is

to judge Te answer is straightforward the one whose expe-

rience knowledge and wisdom merit approval Although manydrink wine there are few expert wine tasters A student of mine

is so adept at this art that he can tell what part of the country a

wine came from Not having developed this advanced degree of

skill this is foreign to me However I had no inclination to say

that my judgment on wine is as accurate as Markrsquos Along these

lines I was once embarrassed when one of my students told me

that the wine I was enjoying was ldquothe Kenny G of winesrdquo Tis as

jazz aficionados know was not a compliment about the wine or

about my taste for wine

Artistic judgments involve much more than my quick treatment




P S S

I have not even given clear aesthetic criteria8 My point is that

beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder If not we are haunted

by objective realities which pay no heed to mere preference

H G E

But Herodotus may yet rescue Protagoras In his History the

ancient historian notes that Darius a king of ancient Persia (who

was a kind of premodern anthropologist because of his study of

cultural differences) called together some Greeks and askedthem what it would take to cannibalize their dead fathers Te

Greeks needed no time to ponder the proposition since nothing

would move them to such odious paternal desecration Teir

practice was cremation this alone would honor their dead Ten

Darius summoned several Callatians (from India) to join the

Greeks and asked them what would make them cremate their

deceased fathers Te Callatians were as horrified as the Greeks

had been and told Darius to not discuss such atrocities

Had Protagoras heard this he would likely applaud having

found more evidence for his outlook But not all applause is

earned While the Greeks and Callatians observed fundamen-

tally different funeral rites both cultures honored the dead Tat

is only particular practicesmdashnot just any old or new thingmdashwere esteemed right and good in the treatment of corpses and

these practices were not norms for the treatment of the living

In other words death was set apart as uniquely meaningful and

thus required that the living treat the dead with ritual respect

Tus Greeks and Callatians agreed on a deep principle of hon-

oring the dead Tey disagreed on the rule that stems from that

principle In no sense then does the example of cultural rela-

tivity disprove moral agreement across cultures since there was

deep agreement between the cultures C S Lewis makes just

this point in Mere Christianity




Protagoras

I know that some people say the idea of a Law of Nature or

decent behaviour known to all men is unsound because

different civilisations and different ages have had quite dif-

ferent moralities

But this is not true Tere have been differences between

their moralities but these have never amounted to any-

thing like a total difference If anyone will take the trouble

to compare the moral teaching of say the ancient Egyp-

tians Babylonians Hindus Chinese Greeks and Romanswhat will really strike him will be how very like they are to

each other and to our own9

Te case against Protagoras comes down to this If we want to

learn anything if we want to improve as human beings if we

want to condemn the ed Bundys of the world if we want any

kind of educated taste if we desire to understand and honorhumanity then we must reject the ldquoman is the measurerdquo theory

Each person is indeed the measurer of some things Some of

them the individual gets right some of them the individual gets

wrong And in this difference lies all the difference in the world

and even outside of it














InterVarsity Press


ivpresscom

emailivpresscom














ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983091-983097 (print)

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983090983095-983090 (digital)






pages cm




BD983090983089G983095983094 983090983088983089983094

983089983088983088mdashdc983090983091

983090983088983089983093983088983091983094983088983093983092

P 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089

Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094




CONTENTS

Preface 983097



983090 S 983091983093


983091 A 983092983097


983092 A 983094983093



983093 D 983096983089



983095 K 983089983090983089





Notes 983089983092983095

Index 983089983093983095




PREFACE
























P S S






















losophy otherwise












Introduction

PHILOSOPHY IN ONLY

SEVEN SENTENCES























P S S




































































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities


























InterVarsity Press


ivpresscom

emailivpresscom














ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983091-983097 (print)

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983090983095-983090 (digital)






pages cm




BD983090983089G983095983094 983090983088983089983094

983089983088983088mdashdc983090983091

983090983088983089983093983088983091983094983088983093983092

P 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089

Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094




CONTENTS

Preface 983097



983090 S 983091983093


983091 A 983092983097


983092 A 983094983093



983093 D 983096983089



983095 K 983089983090983089





Notes 983089983092983095

Index 983089983093983095




PREFACE
























P S S






















losophy otherwise












Introduction

PHILOSOPHY IN ONLY

SEVEN SENTENCES























P S S




































































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















InterVarsity Press


ivpresscom

emailivpresscom














ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983091-983097 (print)

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983090983095-983090 (digital)






pages cm




BD983090983089G983095983094 983090983088983089983094

983089983088983088mdashdc983090983091

983090983088983089983093983088983091983094983088983093983092

P 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089

Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094




CONTENTS

Preface 983097



983090 S 983091983093


983091 A 983092983097


983092 A 983094983093



983093 D 983096983089



983095 K 983089983090983089





Notes 983089983092983095

Index 983089983093983095




PREFACE
























P S S






















losophy otherwise












Introduction

PHILOSOPHY IN ONLY

SEVEN SENTENCES























P S S




































































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















CONTENTS

Preface 983097



983090 S 983091983093


983091 A 983092983097


983092 A 983094983093



983093 D 983096983089



983095 K 983089983090983089





Notes 983089983092983095

Index 983089983093983095




PREFACE
























P S S






















losophy otherwise












Introduction

PHILOSOPHY IN ONLY

SEVEN SENTENCES























P S S




































































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















PREFACE
























P S S






















losophy otherwise












Introduction

PHILOSOPHY IN ONLY

SEVEN SENTENCES























P S S




































































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S






















losophy otherwise












Introduction

PHILOSOPHY IN ONLY

SEVEN SENTENCES























P S S




































































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















Introduction

PHILOSOPHY IN ONLY

SEVEN SENTENCES























P S S




































































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S




































































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities






















































P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S




ticated thinkers































S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities





















S S






























P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S




































































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities






















































P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S





























































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities















































it might lead




1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















1

- one -

PROTAGORAS


P









worth considering










P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S


assessment







W I M





















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















Protagoras












M P





















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S


































Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















Protagoras

D W D R
























story








P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S


































Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















Protagoras






P M S K
















off its shackles









P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S

































Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















Protagoras























his own wisdom6




W I R





P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S



















livelihood















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















Protagoras






see also Hebrews -)




























P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















P S S




H G E





























Protagoras




ferent moralities




















Protagoras




ferent moralities




















Documents

Philosophy in Seven Sentences By Douglas Groothuis - EXCERPT