A.D. 381 heretics, pagans, and the dawn of the monotheistic state ( PDFDrive )

be counterproductive. Diodotus went on to outline the dangers of using
emotional rhetoric to frighten or manipulate an audience into reacting rashly.
Good citizenship depended on persuasion through fair and open argument, and
‘a wise state, without giving special honours to its best counsellors, will certainly
not deprive them of the honour they already enjoy; and when a man’s advice is
not taken, he should not even be disgraced, far less penalised’. 2 In other words,
freedom of expression should be respected and even encouraged.
Where did this impulse to debate originate? The philosopher Aristotle saw the
desire to question and discuss as intrinsic to being human. ‘All men by nature
desire to know’, he wrote in his Metaphysics. 3 For Aristotle, the search for
knowledge did not need to be encouraged; it was simply innate. But there was
something unique about the argumentative atmosphere of Greek society,
especially when one contrasts it with the comparative lack of original Roman
philosophy. Recognition of the importance of freedom of speech seems to have
originated in the sixth century BC, when the citizens of the emerging city states
of Greece began to appreciate that argument rather than conflict was the best
way of settling differences. It was in this century that assemblies and law courts
developed as centres of debate. It must have been a tortuous process at first, but
the pressure of debate appears to have forced an exploration of the nature of
argument itself: what made a watertight argument, what was the role played by
reason, and how could the validity of a logical explanation be tested? 4
It was then appreciated that similar methods could be used to explore the
natural world. The terms used by the first Greek scientists for ‘proof’ and
‘evidence’ are the same as those used by lawyers in the courts. This is not the
place to describe the extraordinary achievements of Greek philosophy, but it
thrived because no state or priesthood claimed a higher set of beliefs to which
discussion had to conform. It was also intensely competitive. Philosophers had
to live by their wits. It was common for there to be contests among orators at the
public games, while teachers would compete to build up their own groups of
pupils and supporters. It is not simply the quality of argument, it is the thinking
about what makes a good argument that impresses. 5
Fifth century BC Athens was the first public arena where competitive debate
became deeply embedded in political and cultural life. Every male citizen had
the right to speak in the Assembly, though the number actually able to dominate
the raucous debates must have been very small. The major drama festival, the
Great Dionysia, held every spring, attracted visitors from throughout the Greek