Protagoras and Instrumentality of religion

• Autores: Adam Drozdek
• Localización: Antiquité classique, ISSN 0770-2817, Nº. 74, 2005, págs. 41-50
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Protagoras expresses agnosticism in the matter of religion. If gods exist, their nature can be considered so different from human nature that humans would not be able to fathom them. However, Protagoras recognizes the fact that religious instinct is primary in humans, which can be seen from the order in which other manifestations of wisdom appeared: after worship of the gods, humans developed language, building houses, making cloths, and processing foods. The first acts of wisdom in humans are very specific to humans: religion and language. Protagoras thus recognizes man as a religious being, and at the same time he expresses his disinterest in discussing theology. Religion was understood by Protagoras as a social practice and a tool in the hands of the ruler, and the Sophist makes certain that citizens agree with that and considers it to be better than anything they themselves could propose on their own.