ence. He believed in a separation between spirit and body, an opposition between good and evil and between discord and harmony. In the 5th century, the Greeks learned from Sophists, who believed that the views of society are standards and the sole measurement of good, truth, justice and beauty. Protagoras was a sophist. He said that, "man is the measure of all things." He believed in a constant flux, and that nothing is absolutely right or wrong, but subject to change. His view is much like that held by Parmenides. The philosophers then asked a question such as; what would happen if things that were wrong were seen by society as acceptable? What, for example, if society condoned murder? Socrates was one who argued this point of view. He stressed truth as absolute, not changeable depending of the thinking of society as a given time. He believed in set standards of ethics. He said that right and wrong can be figured out on an absolute level. If one understands the truths, he can live a good life, without evil. Plato agreed with Socrates. He, too, said that morals, ethics, as well as matter, were absolute. He stated two levels of existence; the physical world of "shadows" and the real world of "ideas". Plato wanted a philosopher-king who would stress harmony and efficiency, as Plato did. Another philosopher, Aristotle, believed in a world of moderation and balance. He disagreed with Plato's two levels of existence. Instead, Aristotle said that all functions of the soul die with the body and that there is no afterlife. Aristotle also said that truth followed logically from other truths. One must reason, step by step, before reaching conclusions. Greek thinkers assumed that the universe was put together in an orderly way. They insisted that people could understand their laws, merely, through the process of reason. There were many conflicting ideas among the elite of ancient Greece,...
