THE SOPHISTS

1. THE SOPHISTS

2. Origins and Meaning • The Greek word sophos which means ‘wise.’ • Primarily skilled in a particular craft, e.g. a sculptor, charioteer, etc. • A Sophist: A man who claims superior knowledge, who has something to impart; often made ‘ambassadors’ of their cities. • Derogatory Senses (from Socrates and Plato): (a) He is not so clever as he thinks he is; (b) His cleverness is used for wrong purposes.

3. Professionalism • At the time of Socrates, the Sophists were itinerant, professional educators who gave instruction to young men, and public displays of eloquence, for fees (Protagoras 349a). • Socrates: A Sophist is ‘a seller of the goods by which a soul (or mind) is nourished.’ But watch out: their food enters the mind directly! • Claim of Expertise: “The proper care of his personal affairs, so that he may best manage his own household, and also of the State’s affairs, so as to become a real power in the city both as speaker and as man of action.”

4. Interest and Outlook • Rhetoric (important to political life): giving instructions to small circles or public displays. • They also had their own interests: mathematics, anthropology, etc. • Influences: (1) the extreme monism of Parmenides; (2) the meeting with other cultures. • Reactions: (1) Skepticism: our sense-perceptions are untrustworthy; (2) Relativism: national and local ways of life, religious and ethical codes, are ethnically bound.

5. Comparison with the older Greek philosophers • Topic: a movement from cosmology to ‘humanism,’ Object to Subject. • Method: from ‘deductive method’ (holding on to the ultimate constituent principle) to ‘empirical-inductive’ (gathering facts and drawing both theoretical and practical conclusions from them). • Goal: from finding out the truth (speculative) to teaching (practical).