Protagoras · Philosophy

Concerning the Gods

Protagoras opened his book <em>On the Gods</em> with a famous declaration of agnosticism: &lsquo;Concerning the gods, I cannot know whether they exist or not, nor of what form they are; many things prevent this knowledge - the obscurity of the matter and the shortness of human life.&rsquo; It is the first reasoned statement of agnosticism in the Western tradition.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Protagoras’ book On the Gods began: &lsquo;Concerning the gods, I cannot know whether they exist or not, nor what they are like in form; for many things prevent knowledge - the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of human life.&rsquo; This is agnosticism (the question is beyond human knowledge)…

Leads to Democritus.

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