Gods and Religion in the Sophistic Context: between Agnosticism and Utilitarian Rationalism

The Sophistic thought affirms the primacy of the human dimension over Nature and focuses on the different aspects of the anthropological domain (rhetoric, ethics, politics), but it does not bypass the topic of the divine, despite the penal judicial consequences the Sophists might face for potentially unconventional interpretations (see Protagoras and Socrates). From the surviving fragments, the Sophists’ interest in the topic emerges from their investigation of the relationship between the human being and god at two levels: an epistemological level, which can be expressed through the question “can humans know the gods?”, and a practical one, through the question “what role has religious belief in the moral and social praxis?”.On the basis of the traditional view of the gods (see Gorgias, Antiphon and Thrasymachus), the Sophists present e a large variety of stances, some of which incompatible with each other (like the Dissòi lógoi = DK90.2 shows: «if it is seemly to treat the gods with respect, it is also shameful to treat the gods with respect»). In these debates, the Sophistic movement develops attitudes proposed again in the West through the centuries. Among these, we can underline two attitudes: at the epistemological level, agnosticism (see Protagoras) and atheistic rationalism; at the ethical-political level, atheistic rationalism, which takes on two different positions: one is utilitarian (see Prodicus) and the other instrumental (see Critias).