sophist
Sign in to saveA sophist () was a professional travelling teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, mathematics, and arete: "virtue" or "excellence". The sophists sold their tutoring expertise predominantly to young statesmen and nobility. Certain sophists are regarded as philosophers in their own right. The first credited sophist, Protagoras, argued that "man is the measure of all things", and he controversially would strive to "make the weaker argument the stronger".
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A sophist was a professional teacher in ancient Greece who charged fees to instruct wealthy young people in subjects like philosophy, rhetoric, mathematics, and virtue. Though some sophists were respected philosophers, others became controversial figures associated with teaching persuasive techniques that prioritized winning arguments over finding truth.
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Article
26 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Major figures
- Protagoras
- Xeniades
- Gorgias
- Lycophron
- Prodicus
- Thrasymachus
- Hippias
- Antiphon the Sophist
- Criticism
- Aristophanes
- Socrates
- Isocrates
- Plato
- Influence
- Democracy
- Education
- Athens
- Rome
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
A sophist () was a professional travelling teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, mathematics, and arete: "virtue" or "excellence". The sophists sold their tutoring expertise predominantly to young statesmen and nobility. Certain sophists are regarded as philosophers in their own right. The first credited sophist, Protagoras, argued that "man is the measure of all things", and he controversially would strive to "make the weaker argument the stronger".
The arts of the sophists were known as sophistry and gained a negative reputation as arbitrary, inauthentic, or deceptive styles of reasoning, beginning with the notable philosophers of Classical Athens who criticized sophists for valuing artistic speech or cleverness in debate over a genuine pursuit of truth and knowledge. Thus, in modern usage, sophism, sophist, and sophistry are used disparagingly. Sophistry, or a sophism, is a fallacious argument, especially one used deliberately to deceive. Today, a sophist is a person who reasons with clever but deceptive or intellectually dishonest arguments.