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"Sophist" redirects here. For the Dialogue of Plato, see Sophist (dialogue). The Sophist ( Greek: Σοφιστής) is one of the late Dialogues of Plato, which was written much later than the Parmenides

Sophism can mean two very different things: In the modern definition, a sophism is a confusing or illogical argument used for deceiving someone. In Ancient Greece, the sophists were a group of teachers of philosophy and rhetoric. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice

The term sophism originated from Greek sophistes, meaning "wise-ist", one who "does" wisdom, one who makes a business out of wisdom (sophós means "wise man"). Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly

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Sophists of Ancient Greece

The Greek words sophos or sophia had the meaning of "wise" or "wisdom" since the time of the poet Homer, and originally connoted anyone with expertise in a specific domain of knowledge or craft. Sophos is a developer and vendor of security software and hardware including anti-virus, Anti-spyware, Anti-spam and Network Access Control Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Thus a charioteer, a sculptor, a warrior could be sophoi in their occupation. Gradually the word came to denote general wisdom and especially wisdom about human affairs (in, for example, politics, ethics, or household management). This was the term given to the Greek Seven Sages of 7th and 6th Century BCE (like Solon and Thales), and this was the meaning that appeared in the histories of Herodotus. The Seven Sages (of Greece or Seven Wise Men (Greek οἱ ἑπτά σοφοί hoi hepta sophoi c Solon ( ancient Greek:, c 638 BC&ndash558 BC was an Athenian Statesman, Lawmaker and Lyric poet. Thales of Miletus According to Bertrand Russell, "Philosophy begins with Thales At about the same time, the term sophistes was a synonym for "poet", and (by association with the traditional role of poets as the teachers of society) a synonym for one who teaches, in particular through the performance of prose works or speeches that impart practical knowledge. The Sophist ( Greek: Σοφιστής) is one of the late Dialogues of Plato, which was written much later than the Parmenides Richard Martin refers to the seven sages as "performers of political poetry. "1

In the second half of the 5th century BCE, particularly at Athens, "sophist" came to denote a class of itinerant intellectuals who taught courses in "excellence" or "virtue," speculated about the nature of language and culture and employed rhetoric to achieve their purposes, generally to persuade or convince others. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice Sophists claimed that they could find the answers to all questions. Most of these sophists are known today primarily through the writings of their opponents (specifically Plato and Aristotle), which makes it difficult to assemble an unbiased view of their practices and beliefs. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.

Many of them taught their skills for a price. Due to the importance of such skills in the litigious social life of Athens, practitioners often commanded very high fees. The practice of taking fees, along with the sophists practice of questioning the existence and roles of traditional deities (this was done to make "the weaker argument appear the stronger") and investigating into the nature of the heavens and the earth prompted a popular reaction against them. Their attacks against Socrates (in fictional prosecution speeches) prompted a vigorous condemnation from his followers, including Plato and Xenophon, as there was a popular view of Socrates as a sophist. SOCRATES is the European Community action programme in the field of Education. Their attitude, coupled with the wealth garnered by many of the sophists, eventually led to popular resentment against sophist practitioners and the ideas and writings associated with sophism.

Protagoras is generally regarded as the first of the sophists. Protagoras ( Greek:) (ca 490&ndash 420 BC was a pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher and is numbered as one of the Sophists by Others included Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias, Thrasymachus, Lycophron, Callicles, Antiphon, and Cratylus. Gorgias ( Greek: Γοργίας ca 487-376 BC Greek Sophist, Pre-socratic philosopher and Rhetorician was a native Prodicus of Ceos ( Greek: Πρόδικος Pródikos, (c 465 BC - 415 BC was a Greek philosopher, part of the first generation of Sophists. Hippias can also refer to the tyrant of Athens son of Peisistratus Thrasymachus (Θρασύμαχος (ca 459-400 BCE was a Sophist of Ancient Greece best known as a character in Plato 's Republic Lycophron was a Greek Poet and Grammarian (although the Oxford Classical Dictionary regards these as two different men Callicles (Καλλικλης is a character in Plato ’s dialogue Gorgias. Antiphon the Sophist lived in Athens probably in the last two decades of the 5th century BC Cratylus ( ancient Greek:, Kratylos) was an ancient Athenian Philosopher from late 5th century BC mostly known through his portrayal

In comparison, Socrates accepted no fee, instead adopting a self-effacing posture, which he exemplified by Socratic questioning (i. e. the Socratic method, however, Diogenes Laertius wrote that Protagoras - a sophist - invented the “Socratic” method [1][2]). The Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate) named after the Classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of Diogenes Laërtius ( Greek:, Diogénes Laértios) the biographer of the Greek Philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname His attitude towards the Sophists was by no means oppositional; in one dialogue Socrates even stated that the Sophists were better educators than he was [3], which he validated by sending one of his students to study under a sophist [4]. W. K. C. Guthrie associated Socrates with the Sophists in his History of Greek Philosophy. William Keith Chambers Guthrie ( 1 August 1906 &ndash 17 May 1981) was a Scottish Classical scholar, best known for his History [4]

Plato, the most illustrious student of Socrates, depicts Socrates as refuting the sophists in several Dialogues. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece These texts depict the sophists in an unflattering light, and it is unclear how accurate or fair Plato's representation of them may be; however, it is also suggested that such criticism was often ironic. Another contemporary, the comic playwright Aristophanes, criticizes the sophists as hairsplitting wordsmiths, yet suggests that Socrates was one of their number. Aristophanes (Ἀριστοφάνης ˌærɪˈstɒfəniːz in English ca

Plato is largely responsible for the modern view of the "sophist" as a greedy instructor who uses rhetorical sleight-of-hand and ambiguities of language in order to deceive, or to support fallacious reasoning. In this view, the sophist is not concerned with truth and justice, but instead seeks power. The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality JUSTICE is a Human rights and law reform organisation based in the United Kingdom. Political power ( Imperium in Latin is a type of power held by a group in a Society which allows administration of some or all of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all challenged the philosophical foundations of sophism.

It seems that some of the sophists held a relativistic view on cognition and knowledge. Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism, Cultural relativism, and Cognitive relativism. Cognition is a concept used in different ways by different disciplines but is generally accepted to mean the process of awareness or thought Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding Their philosophy contains criticism of religion, law and ethics. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Though many sophists were apparently as religious as their contemporaries, some held atheistic or agnostic views (see Protagoras or Diagoras of Melos). Atheism Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the Protagoras ( Greek:) (ca 490&ndash 420 BC was a pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher and is numbered as one of the Sophists by Diagoras the Atheist of Melos (Διαγόρας ὁ Μήλιος was a Greek Poet and Sophist of the 5th century BC

In some cases, such as Gorgias, there are original rhetorical works that are fortunately extant, allowing the author to be judged on his own terms. Gorgias ( Greek: Γοργίας ca 487-376 BC Greek Sophist, Pre-socratic philosopher and Rhetorician was a native In most cases, however, knowledge of sophist thought comes from fragmentary quotations that lack context. Many of these quotations come from Aristotle, who seems to have held the sophists in slight regard, notwithstanding his other disagreements with Plato. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece

Owing largely to the influence of Plato and Aristotle, philosophy came to be regarded as distinct from sophistry, the latter being regarded as rhetoric, a practical discipline. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Thus, by the time of the Roman Empire, a sophist was simply a teacher of rhetoric and a popular public speaker. For instance, Libanius, Himerius, Aelius Aristides and Fronto were sophists in this sense. Libanius ( Greek: Λιβάνιος, Libanios; ca 314-ca 394 was a Greek-speaking teacher of rhetoric of the later Roman Empire, an educated Himerius (ca 315-386 Greek Sophist and Rhetorician was born at Prusa in Bithynia. Aelius Aristides (AD 117 - 181 was a popular Greek orator who lived during the Roman Empire. Marcus Cornelius Fronto ( c 100 - 170) Roman grammarian rhetorician and advocate was born at Cirta in Numidia.

Sophists and Democracy

The sophists’ rhetorical techniques were extremely useful for any young nobleman looking for public office. In addition to the individual benefits that Sophistic-style teaching conferred, the societal roles that the Sophists’ filled had important ramifications for the Athenian political system at large. The historical context in which the Sophists operated provides evidence for their considerable influence, as Athens became more and more democratic during the period in which the Sophists were most active [5].

The Sophists certainly were not directly responsible for Athenian democracy, but their cultural and psychological contributions played an important role in its growth. They contributed to the new democracy in part by subjectifying truth, which allowed and perhaps required a tolerance of the beliefs of others. This liberal attitude would naturally have precipitated into the Athenian assembly as Sophists acquired increasingly high-powered clients [6]. Contiguous rhetorical training gave the citizens of Athens “the ability to create accounts of communal possibilities through persuasive speech” [7]. This was extremely important for the democracy, as it gave disparate and sometimes superficially unattractive views a chance to be heard in the Athenian assembly. Subjectified truths and communicatively enabled individuals were wonderful for the burgeoning democracy, and, in a sense, they were democracy itself.

It is also necessary to state the importance of the Sophists for the Law, as we have it today, since the sophists were the first lawyers in the world, due their extremely developed argumentation skill. [8]

The Persecution of the Sophists

After a crescent influence in the Greek politics, the sophists started to suffer from menace, persecution and even assassination. Such behavior against the old sophist masters were certainly influenced by the philosophers due their contempt for the democratic relativism of the Sophists.

It is necessary to understand that the Greek democracy was applicable in the politic arena only, and not necessarily in the sphere of ideas.

When a group of masters preached relativism, criticizing even the myth of the "Greek superiority" or the "wisdom of the gods", that was taken as a threat to the Greek states. Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism, Cultural relativism, and Cognitive relativism. Even Socrates (viewed by many as a sophist master) verbally recognized the Greek theogony (to avoid being killed). Theogony ( Greek: Θεογονία theogonia = the birth of God(s is a Poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies

Even with the sudden "disappearance" of the sophists (there are speculations that secret societies were created, or that they migrated to the East, where they helped in the creation and propagation of many religions), the persecutions continued, but in a written manner, since any reference written about the sophists were made in a very negative approach. These "facts" that were copied without analysis by many modern philosophers continued to portray the sophists as enemies of philosophy.

Presently, there is a historical revision tendency about the sophists role, that are now understood as an "ultra-democrat" group in a Greek age.

Modern usage

In modern usage, sophism, sophist, and sophistry are derogatory terms, due the influence of many philosophers in the past (sophistry and philosophy were enemy schools).

A sophism is taken as a specious argument used for deceiving someone. It might be crafted to seem logical while actually being wrong, or it might use difficult words and complicated sentences to intimidate the audience into agreeing, or it might appeal to the audience's prejudices and emotions rather than logic, i. e. raising doubts towards the one asserting, rather than his assertion. The goal of a sophism is often to make the audience believe the writer or speaker to be smarter than he or she actually is, e. g. , accusing another of sophistry for using persuasion techniques. An argument Ad Hominem is an example of Sophistry. An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem ( Latin: "argument to the man" "argument against the man"

A sophist is a user of sophisms, i. e. , an insincere person trying to confuse or deceive people. Sophists will try to persuade the audience while paying little attention to whether their argument is logical and factual.

Sophistry means making heavy use of sophisms. The word can be applied to a particular text or speech riddled with sophisms.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Jarratt, Susan C. Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991. , p. 83
  2. ^ Sprague, Rosamond Kent, The Older Sophists, Hackett Publishing Company (ISBN 0-87220-556-8). , p. 5
  3. ^ Guthrie, W. K. C. Vol. 3 of History of Greek Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969, p. 399
  4. ^ a b Guthrie, W. K. C. Vol. 3 of History of Greek Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969, p. 401
  5. ^ Blackwell, Christopher. Demos: Classical Athenian Democracy. 28 February 2003. The Stoa: a Consortium for Scholarly Publication in the Humanities. 25 April 2007.
  6. ^ Sprague, Rosamond Kent, The Older Sophists, Hackett Publishing Company (ISBN 0-87220-556-8), p. 32
  7. ^ Jarratt, Susan C. Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991, p. 98
  8. ^ Martin, Richard. "Seven Sages as Performers of Wisdom. " Cultural Poetics in Archaic Greece. New York: Oxford, 1988. 108-130.

See also

External links

Truthiness is a term first used in its current satirical sense by American television comedian Stephen Colbert in 2005 to describe Victor J Vitanza is a Professor of English at Clemson University (South Carolina Weasel words is an informal term for words that are ambiguous and cannot be substantiated by facts

Dictionary

sophism

-noun

  1. A flawed argument superficially correct in its reasoning, usually designed to deceive. An intentional fallacy.
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