Protagoras

From Geography

Protagoras of Abdera (ca 490 - 420 v. Chr.) was a greek philosopher and scholar of classical antiquity. According to F.C.S. Schiller Protagoras was the founder of humanism, because he thought his pupils in a human and practical way, even though ‘real’ universities did not exist yet in that time (Cloke, Philo & Sadler, 1999). He was one of the Sophists, a group of thinkers in the age of Pericles. However, a lot of his writings and texts got lost, most probably because they were overshadowed by the works of Plato and Aristotle that came after him, although a lot of their writings on human society were based on Protagoras’ fundamental thoughts. He investigated the grounds of justice and laws, and a big part of his work dealt with the origin and functions of the social community, based on his perceptions of the greek polis (Loenen, D., 1940).

Referencees

• Cloke, P., Philo, Ch. & Sadler, D. (1991) Approaching Human Geography. Chapman, London, p. 60

• Loenen, D. (1940) Protagoras and the greek community. Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, Amsterdam.

Contributors

• Page created by --AnneStrien - 15:38, 8 September 2012 (CEST)

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• Page added to Category 'Humanism' by Iris van der Wal - 11:01, October 26th 2012