The Main Vectors of the Influence of the Sophists' Relativism on the Sphere of Politics

Abstract

In this article I describe the relationship between the sophists’ relativism and their political views. I attempt to construct a model, not to make a detailed historical reconstruction. I distinguish two main ideas of the sophists, and, in consequence, two main vectors of influence: the extreme relativism of Protagoras leading to “relativistic democracy” and the “theory of force” (“the law of the strongest”). I also try to show a certain mechanism (already noticed by Plato) that leads—in practice—from one to the other: the chaos introduced by relativistic democracy gives rise to the demand for the authoritarian rule, for the “strong man.”  In the second part of the article I describe some modern continuations of both ideas with an emphasis on the “theory of force.” From this perspective, I analyze the views of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Hegel, Nietzsche, and of selected 20th-century French philosophers. Even though the sophists operated on a democratic ground, their two main doctrines (the “theory of force” and extreme relativism) are, in my opinion, harmful, even destructive, to democracy. These ideas are therefore not suitable as an ethical, axiological, and meta-ethical foundation for liberal democracy. Hence the question with which I end this article: “What could such a foundation look like?,” at the same time sketching a provisional answer.