Prodicus
Prodicus of Ceos ( Ancient Greek Πρόδικος Prodicus, Latinized Prodicus; * probably 470-460 BC in Iulis on the island of Kea, † after 399 BC) was an ancient Greek sophist and rhetorician.
The writings Prodicus ' are lost; obtained are only testimonies (ancient reports on the life and teachings ). As an interlocutor he appears in the Platonic dialogue Protagoras.
Life
In the Suda is stated that Prodicus was a pupil of Protagoras, Plato is merely that he was a younger contemporary of the same. Probably was Prodikos in a personal relationship with Socrates. According to Plato, he traveled to various cities in order to earn tuition money; In any case, he has often stopped in Athens, where he also took over official functions for his home island of Kea.
Some ancient authors, including the Sophists, Plato 's opponents report that Prodicus cheap as well as relatively expensive lessons, especially in trade rhetoric was, ( 0.5 to 50 drachmas ). In the Platonic dialogue Protagoras, Prodicus helps in the precise meaning of discrimination of different terms. Said to have been sentenced that Prodicus in Athens to death, is probably untrue.
Thucydides, Euripides and Isocrates to have been a pupil of Prodicus, are found in them also typical term accruals, such as those carried Prodicus and his scientific and precise use of language again. As Xenophon in his Symposium, also the wealthy Athenian politician Callias was informed by him.
Prodikos place in two comedies of Aristophanes the poet negative mention. In 423 BC listed piece The clouds he is referred to as " Meteorsophist " The birds in his teachings are discarded. A mockery of the Prodikos contains a preserved fragment Aeschines ' of Sphettos.
Teaching
Philosophy of Language
Prodikos a language- philosophical method is attributed, with their help it is possible to distinguish words with similar meaning from each other. So are friends with one another, " quarrel ", enemies, however, " quarrel " with each other. Prodicus ' method is called synonymy, but was also known as " concept definition " ( onomaton diaeresis ) refers to Plato sets a target of the method, the " correctness of words " ( horthotes onomaton ). Prodicus, the because the matter was that every word just exactly call a thing has, therefore, probably also occasionally criticized the ambiguous and blurred everyday parlance, what also " argue " the demarcation and " bickering " can serve as an example. Modern researchers suggest that Prodicus his method is not theoretically explained, but has mainly demonstrated in practical examples. On the effect of Prodicus ' method Heinrich wrote Gomperzes ". Doctrine from the signification of Prodicus the term philosophy of Socrates is grown " Is that right, so you can view Prodikos as a pioneer of reasoned logic of Aristotle.
Rationalist explanation of the origin of religion
After Prodikos people should have eventually begun to deify useful things, such as was the bread to the goddess Demeter. Later special people alleged to have been elevated to the status of gods. He was thus often counted in antiquity to the atheists.
Some ancient authors mention that Prodicus the Greek hero Heracles has written; it is assumed that this is done within the framework of a pamphlet entitled Horae ( horai ). Xenophon recounts the parable of " Hercules at the Crossroads ". Heracles appear two women, " Vice" ( Kakia ) and "virtue" ( arete ), who want to win it for two opposite forms of life on the threshold of adulthood. " Vice" hits him a life of pleasurable idleness before, "virtue" a laborious and busy, but glorious life. Prodicus has favored the latter.
Medicine, natural philosophy and pessimism
According to Galen Prodicus has also written about medical issues, according to Galen and Cicero also on natural philosophy. After unsafe products Prodikos is also attributed to a pessimistic view of life.
Tradition and antique desk
Plato is in his early dialogue Protagoras, Prodicus on a ' synonymy, which he represents as Operating as with arbitrarily acting conceptual distinctions. The Platonic Socrates describes himself - probably ironically - as a pupil of Prodicus. Whether Prodicus ' synonymy has had influence on the development of the Platonic dialectic and Dihairesis is debatable.
Source collections
- Hermann Diels, Walther Kranz (ed.): The fragments of the Presocratics, Volume 2, Berlin 1903, pp. 276-282 (partly with German translation; numerous reprints; digitized: Volume 2 of the 4th edition, 1922), p 267 -276.
- Robert Mayhew: Prodicus the Sophist. Texts, Translations, and Commentary. Oxford University Press, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-960787-7