Essays on Sophists

The Cave

Plato’s The Cave is an allegorical story which Socrates was telling one of his followers Glaucon to explain to him the difference between a philosopher who seeks wisdom and others who aim to remain in ignorance. In the story, Socrates tells of a group of people who have been chained facing an empty wall their entire lives. They are unable to look anywhere, except the wall. Right behind them is an assembly line of items that are constantly going by which are reflected onto the wall by the light which comes from the fire that is behind the ...

Philosophy, by definition, is not only the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom but also asking questions that seemingly have no answers. Ancient Greece had no shortage of wise men called the Sophists. While they taught young men wisdom for money, their objective was to prove themselves wiser than their opponents by making their arguments appear stronger than it really was. To them, the truth was relative and arguments, as Protagoras admitted, could be distorted to their advantage. Of course, Socrates, being part of the Sophists, did differently by using their reasoning techniques in order arrive at the indisputable truth ...

In Plato's "Apology", Socrates' series of dialogues in the period preceding, during, and after his trial provide an insight into his mastery of rhetoric. That is especially true given his ability to arrange his arguments in a judicious manner. While not overly successful in persuading the jury, the final judgment appears to be as a result of bias and prejudice rather than having a weak argument in the various passages of the "Apology." Socrates makes a persuasive claim that it is not possible to separate wisdom from moral virtue. Therefore, by being a man of wisdom, he could not ...

II. Short Answer Questions Answer each of the following 4 questions with a 3-5 sentence paragraph. Write legibly and in full sentences. You may write on the back of the sheet. (12 points each: 48 total) 1. What philosopher used the idea of Tetrapharmakon? What does this word mean? What is the purpose of this teaching? List and describe the different parts of this idea. It was philosopher Philodemus who first used the idea of Tetrapharmakon. The word Tetrapharmakon means the Four Cures, which are the summary of the four basic doctrines: - Do not fear the god - ...

The Apology chronicles a speech given by Socrates in response to charges brought against him in Athens Greece. Socrates was brought to trial around 399 BC for a myriad of charges. This hearing was recorded by his student Plato and is believed to be the most accurate, even though Xenophon's Memorabilia gives an account of the proceedings. The modern day connotation of the word apology, derived from the Greek word apologia is defined as “a regretful acknowledgement of an offence or failure” (Oxford Dictionaries). Where this definition is concerned, and with careful analysis, one cannot refer to this hearing ...

Genuine philosophical thoughts from great individuals have evolved through time. Whereas the accepted philosophies of today’s generation are great, these thoughts are rooted from the minds of early philosophers where their insights have been corrected through time. The Sophists views and the perspectives of Socrates were one of the first genuine philosophies from the early civilization of humanity. Although these concepts are vague and illusionary nowadays, they have been an integral part of the evolution of the human philosophy. The views of the sophists are the first philosophies that flourished in the early part of the civilization around ...

Understanding oneself is the way to happiness. Philosophy as taught by Socrates helps people turn inwards and in the process better themselves. Socrates apology is an account of the speech he made in a trial when he was being charged with not recognizing the gods that the state recognized. Instead, according to his accusers, he invented new gods and corrupted the youth in Athens. This speech is, however, not an apology as the modern meaning of the word suggests. The word apology in the speech is derived from the Greek word apologia that means a speech made in defense of, therefore, ...

Introduction

Philosophy is an important discipline which reflects people’s beliefs about what is true or real in accordance to individual values. Philosophy allows people to think rationally and hence determine the right course of action. The Early Greek philosophers were mainly concerned with justifying and answered questions on where everything originated (Rudebusch 2009 p 139). Educators surely need to have a standing point that enables students to understand why they think and act the way they do. Socrates and sophistry are both philosophies that can enable people to understand the logic and fallacies behind different critical facts. The two philosophies are ...

CLOUDS AND INTELLECTUAL THUGGERY

Aristophanes’ cloud is a blatant attack on the sophists and a personal attack on Socrates. The sophists were a class of people who had a revolutionary frame of thought which did not conform to the social norms of their time. They believed in arguing about the validity of everything and using their cunningness and mental prowess to triumph in an argument. Aristophanes’ cloud shows how the teachings of the sophists at the Thoughtery went against common social convention of the time. The play focuses on the activities of the sophists to paint them in their true colors as people who went against social ...

Mesopotamia is believed to be a land that’s between two rivers. Ancient Mesopotamia was occupied by different people with different cultures, wealth, gender, and religion. This therefore, brought about conflicts and warfare because of inequality. It is a fact that ancient Mesopotamia was growing and due to trade others became wealthy while others remained poor. The laws were made by the elite who made it possible for it to benefit them. In the laws when a poor person commits the same crime as the rich person they will be given a harsher punishment compared to the rich person. The education system was ...

Introduction

When reading the Platonic dialogues, the reader is faced with the fundamental question what the term Socrates would mean. Does this term ‘Socrates’, who is usually the main speaker of several Platonic dialogues, represent the philosophy of the teacher or of the author? There are varied answers to this question among the scholars, especially of varied traditions (Mauro, & Louis-André, 2009). In the view of the Platonic scholars and psychologists in the present day, some dialogues are Socratic because of their representation of the historical figure of the Socrates. Additionally, they argue that these dialogues represent an earlier stage in ...

Socrates was one of the greatest Greek philosophers, who became embodiment of the ideal sage for the next generation, was sentenced to death by the Athenian authorities after a public trial. It all started with the fact that Melita, the Athenian poet, claimed that Socrates allegedly violated the law, trying to explore what's under the ground, and what is in the heavens, giving a lie for the truth, and teaching others the same. Socrates was accused of violating the piety, denying the gods recognized by the Athenians, and the introduction of new. These accusations were stated publicly. The hidden motives of ...

Facilitator:

The ground of argument staged by Sophist delineates a clear line between what people perceive to be truth and the actual reality from the philosophical perspective. In relativism, their belief that cultural factors like marriage and family assumed a relative meaning to the people as the customs of marriage among the Chinese and the Americans differ. However, the Sophist fails to elevate the profound source of the major differences. The philosophers observe that some beliefs arise from the beliefs of the people and the regional characteristics (Klonoski, 2003). Most of the cultural relativism factors used by the Sophist drew their roots ...

Arguably, many Athenians mostly mistook Socrates for a sophist. Socrates was one of the keenest critic of sophists. Socrates was among the first great philosophers in Athens, together with Aristotle and Plato. As a philosopher, Socrates developed many philosophies and changed the thinking of people on various aspects of life. In fact, Socrates taught the youth and never charged them any money. On the other hand, Sophists were public speakers, orators, as well as hired mouths. Perhaps, they were gifted with qualities of speech. Their skills on various fields were high and, were known as Rhetoric. They were hated, respected and ...