“The sophists were as a rule men who had traveled widely and seen different forms of government. Both conventions and local laws in the city-states could vary widely. This led the Sophists to raise the question of what was natural and what was socially induced. By doing this, they paved the way for social criticism in the city-state of Athens.” MenWayDifferentStatesGovernmentFormLawSocialNaturalCitiesCriticismRaisesLocalsConventionsTraveledVaryForms Of GovernmentAthens Author:Jostein Gaarder
“The two basic maxims of the so-called historical criticism are the postulate of the common and the axiom of the ordinary. Postulate of the common: everything really great, good, and beautiful, is improbable, since it is extraordinary and therefore at least suspect. Axiom of the ordinary: our conditions and environment must have existed everywhere, for they are really so natural.” TwoBeautifulNaturalCommonHistoryEnvironmentConditionsOrdinaryCriticismHistoricalExtraordinarySuspectsReally GreatMaximsAxiomsImprobable Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel