Sophist
A sophist (Greek: σοφιστής, romanized: sophistēs) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics and mathematics. They taught arete, "virtue" or "excellence", predominantly to young statesmen and nobility.
This article is about the intellectual phenomenon of the 5th century BC. For the movement of the 2nd and 3rd century AD, see Second Sophistic. For the work by Plato, see Sophist (dialogue).Etymology[edit]
The Greek word σοφός, sophos, 'a wise man' is related to the noun σοφία, sophia, 'wisdom'. Since the times of Homer it commonly referred to an expert in his profession or craft. Charioteers, sculptors, or military experts could be referred to as sophoi in their occupations. The word has gradually come to connote general wisdom and especially wisdom in human affairs such as politics, ethics, and household management. This was the meaning ascribed to the Greek Seven Sages of 7th and 6th century BCE (such as Solon and Thales), and it was the meaning that appears in the histories of Herodotus.
The word σοφός gives rise to the verb σοφίζω, sophizo, 'to instruct / make learned', the passive voice of which means "to become or be wise", or "to be clever or skilled". From the verb is derived the noun σοφιστής, sophistes, which originally meant "a master of one's craft" and later "a prudent man" or "wise man".[1] The word for "sophist" in various languages comes from sophistes.
The word "sophist" could be combined with other Greek words to form compounds. Examples include meteorosophist, which roughly translates to "expert in celestial phenomena"; gymnosophist (or "naked sophist", a word used to refer to Indian philosophers), deipnosophist or "dinner sophist" (as in the title of Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae), and iatrosophist, a type of physician in the later Roman period.
History[edit]
In the second half of the 5th century BCE, particularly in Athens, "sophist" came to denote a class of mostly itinerant intellectuals who taught courses in various subjects, speculated about the nature of language and culture, and employed rhetoric to achieve their purposes, generally to persuade or convince others. "Sophists did, however, have one important thing in common: whatever else they did or did not claim to know, they characteristically had a great understanding of what words would entertain or impress or persuade an audience."[2] Sophists went to Athens to teach because the city was flourishing at the time. It was good employment for those good at debate, which was a speciality of the first sophists, and they received the fame and fortune they were seeking. Protagoras is generally regarded as the first of these professional sophists. Others include Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias, Thrasymachus, Lycophron, Callicles, Antiphon, and Cratylus. A few 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 (particularly Plato and Aristotle), which makes it difficult to assemble an unbiased view of their practices and teachings. In some cases, such as Gorgias, original rhetorical works are extant, allowing the author to be judged on his own terms, but in most cases, knowledge about what individual sophists wrote or said comes from fragmentary quotations that lack context and are usually hostile.
The Greeks were “experimenting with a new form of government, democracy” (W. Keith, 5). Therefore, they were navigating how to make decisions without a higher authority. They needed to create laws based on demand and popular vote of the people. Back in the fifth century they did not have mass media, printing presses, and barely any texts. They mostly relied on speech. This meant that “the Athenians needed a strategy for effectively talking to other people in juries, in forums, and in the senate” (W. Keith, 5). This is when the sophist began to come about. Originally known as Sicilians, they began to teach Athenians how to speak in a persuasive manner in order to work with the courts and senate. It is not really known how these Sicilians, who came to be Sophists, initially grew an interest to teach others how to speak persuasively. However, the interest in receiving training from the Sophists increased.
(The Origins of Rhetoric Keith & Lundberg)
Sophists could be described both as teachers and philosophers, having travelled about in Greece teaching their students various life skills, particularly rhetoric and public speaking. These were useful qualities of the time, during which persuasive ability had a large influence on one's political power and economic wealth. Athens became the center of the sophists' activity, due to the city's freedom of speech for non-slave citizens and its wealth of resources. The sophists as a group had no set teachings, and they lectured on subjects that were as diverse as semantics and rhetoric, to ontology, and epistemology. Most sophists claimed to teach arete ("excellence" or "virtue") in the management and administration of not only one's affairs, but the city's as well. Before the 5th century BCE, it was believed that aristocratic birth qualified a person for arete and politics. However, Protagoras, who is regarded as the first sophist, argued that arete was the result of training rather than birth.[3]
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