QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

shared a common scepticism, a mistrust of the possibility of absolute knowledge, rose to
prominence. They doubted all human beliefs and in their opinion, the pre-Socratics had failed to
create an understandable world-view. Speculation concerning natural philosophy started to be
regarded as a waste of time and estranged from reality, and philosophy focused on problems
associated with human life, society and culture. 83
The Sophists were peripatetic teachers of wisdom, who came to Athens from different directions
and based their activity as teachers upon the idea of the physis of man. Philosophical thinking
began to view man’s character as part of the nature of the universe and it was believed that
society and the state arose from the natural dispositions and general laws of human nature. 84
Philosophy was therefore expected to concentrate on the search for solutions to both political and
pedagogical problems. Using similar rhetorical and dialectic skills to those employed by Zeno in
addressing the visualisation of movement, the Sophists questioned existing traditions and
preached new cultural ideals. They believed they could persuade the mob to follow almost any
opinion and the training they offered in civil and political presentation was in widespread
demand. 85 The value of beliefs and opinions began to be more generally seen in the extent to
which they were beneficial, i.e. how well they served the needs of each individual. According to
the teachings of Protagoras, a well-known pedagogue and social philosopher, humans were the
measure of everything. As truth was relative and changed from person to person and from culture
to culture, each individual person could only trust their own personal beliefs. In addition to the
Sophists, the Sceptics systematically doubted all dogmatism. In their opinion, two alleged truths
could only be compared by appealing to some third criterion which also lacked a firm
foundation. 86
It is possible to draw parallels between this cultural situation and present times. The belief in old
values and gods had been lost, and science had not been able to fulfil all the expectations
invested in it. Disappointment in continuous progress resulted in there being space for trends
which are reminiscent of modern Relativism and Postmodernism. A similar period of scepticism
and relativism occurred in Europe following the Renaissance, when the collapse of the restrictive
world order of the Middle Ages led to a period of freedom and creativity, but also to many
83
Guthrie 1950, 63-66.
84
Jaeger 1947, 175.
85
Because of the new democratic system, lower-class citizens (if they were males and not slaves) could also
progress if they mastered the skill of convincing rhetoric.
86
Aspelin 1995, 62-63. Stenius 1953, 174-182, Tarnas 1998, 26-30, 77.
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