SophistsSocrates(F20) (1).docx - 1 The Sophists Sophist: 1....

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The Sophists
Sophist:
1. A person who reasons with clever but fallacious
arguments.
2. A paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric in ancient
Greece associated in popular thought with moral
skepticism and specious reasoning.
The Sophists were a group of individuals that came to
Athens from different cultures and countries and emerged
as a movement sometime during the 5
th
century BCE.
Not only had the Sophists lived in different countries with
different customs, but they had also amassed much
information based upon observation of different countries
and cultures.
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This knowledge made them skeptical about the possibility
of attaining any absolute truth by which a culture or
society might order its life.
The Sophists can be described as practical individuals,
and along these lines their interests are representative of a
shift away from metaphysical questions to more practical
concerns of individuals and their culture.
Instead of contemplating metaphysical questions about
the nature or make-up of reality the Sophists turned to the
practical profession of teaching, they were teachers.
Specifically, they taught for a fee the art of rhetoric, the
art of persuasive speech, or how to win a debate.
Initially, the Sophists had a favourable reputation in
Athens, as they taught individuals how to present their
ideas in a clear and forceful manner.
Yet, the art of rhetoric that the Sophists taught also led to
their downfall.
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They advocated for relativism, what we today would call
cultural or social relativism – the idea that all truth is
relative to a culture or society.
Since they looked upon truth as a relative matter, they
taught how to make a bad case look like a good case or an
unjust cause appear to be just.
Because the Sophists believe that there is no objective
right or wrong, it does not matter which side of the case
or cause one argues for.
And instead of asking if an action is right, the Sophists
asked: Will performing this action be to my advantage?
Will it make me successful?
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It is important to note that the Sophists make a distinction
between physis and nomos .
Physis is commonly translated as nature and refers to the
features of the world that are independent of human
traditions and decisions.
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Nomos , on the other hand, refers to that which is based on
human customs or conventions.