The Sophists of the 4 th and 5

The Sophists of the 4 th and 5 th Century B. C. • Sophistry means practical wisdom. • The first two sophists were: Corax and Tisias (the crow and the egg). • See Herrick p. 35 • Lets do one.

What did the Sophists teach? • Arete or virtue rather then birth right. • Nomos or conventional agreement as opposed to thesmos (kings) or physis (natural law) or logos (theory). • Antilogike or counter argument.

Criticisms of the Sophists • • • Epideixis or memorized speeches. Help build the middle class. Techne for the citizens. Rhythm (Leon Enos) (Rap music). Can make the lesser case appear the stronger case.

Three Great Sophists • Gorgias • Protagoras • Isocrates

Gorgias • Three part beginning point: Nothing exists. If anything did exist, we could not know it. If we could know it, we could not communication it.

Famous For: • • Incantations Style Supernaturalism Antithesis, see Herrick p. 43

Protagoras • Man is the measure of all things.

Isocrates • Thematic and Practical. • Civil minded.

So why were they hated? • • • Love songs (O Danny Boy) or “Hey, you there. ” Politics or “Elect me. ” Is there a God? The watch or threats argument. Who should rule? Best talker or birth? Professional juries? Albert Einstein: Imagination is more important then knowledge.