See also:

• SOPHISTS (from Gr. codtoris, literally, man of wisdom)

SOPHISTS (from Gr. codtoris, literally, See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man of See also:

• WISDOM, BOOK OF, or WISDOM OF SOLOMON (Sept. Io4ia IaXwµwvos; Lat. Vulg. Liber sapientiae)

wisdom)  , the name given by the Greeks about the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle of the 5th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century B.C. to certain teachers of a See also:

• SUPERIOR

superior grade who, distinguishing themselves from philosophers on the one See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand and from artists and craftsmen on the other, claimed to prepare their pupils, not for any particular study or profession, but for civic See also:

• LIFE

life . For nearly a See also:

• HUNDRED

hundred years the See also:

• SOPHISTS (from Gr. codtoris, literally, man of wisdom)

sophists held almost a See also:

• MONOPOLY (Gr. govomeXla or govoircaXwv, exclusive sale, from govds, alone, and irwXeiv, to sell)

monopoly of See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general or liberal See also:

• EDUCATION

education . Yet, within the limits of the profession, there was considerable diversity both of theory and of practice . Four See also:

• PRINCIPAL

principal varieties are distinguishable, and may be described as the sophistries of culture, of See also:

• RHETORIC (Gr. psroperctj TEXvq, the art of the orator)

rhetoric, of politics, and of " eristic," i.e. disputation . Each of these predominated in its turn, though not to the exclusion of others, the sophistry of culture beginning about 447, and leading to the sophistry of. eristic, and the sophistry of rhetoric taking See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root in central See also:

• GREECE

Greece about 427, and merging in the sophistry of politics . Further, since See also:

• SOCRATES

Socrates and the Socratics were educators, they too mightbe, and in general were, regarded as sophists; but, as they conceived truth—so far as it was attainable—rather than success in life, in the See also:

• LAW
• LAW (0. Eng. lagu, M. Eng. lawe; from an old Teutonic root lag, " lie," what lies fixed or evenly; cf. Lat. lex, Fr. loi)
• LAW, JOHN (1671—1729)
• LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761)

law See also:

• COURT
• COURT (from the O. Fr. court, Late Lat. cortis, curtis, a popular form of class. Lat. cohors, gen. cohortis; the mod. Fr. form tour is due to the influence of the Lat. curia, the word used in medieval documents to translate " court " in the feudal sense)
• COURT, ANTOINE (1696-176o)

court, in the See also:

• ASSEMBLY, UNLAWFUL

assembly, or in debate, to be the right end of intellectual effort, they were at variance with their rivals, and are commonly ranked by historians, not with the sophists, who confessedly despaired of knowledge, but with the philosophers, who, however unavailingly, continued to seek it . With the See also:

• ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of the See also:

• GREAT

great philosophical See also:

• SCHOOLS

schools—first, of the See also:

• ACADEMY, GREEK
• ACADEMY, ROYAL

Academy, next of the See also:

• LYCEUM

Lyceum—the philosophers took the See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of the sophists as the educators of Greece . The sophistical See also:

• MOVEMENT

movement was then, primarily, an See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to provide a general or liberal education which should supplement the customary instruction in See also:

• READING

reading, See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing, gymnastic and See also:

• MUSIC

music . But, as the sophists of the first See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period See also:

• CHOSE (Fr. for " thing ")

chose for their See also:

• INSTRUMENTS

instruments See also:

• GRAMMAR (from Lat. grammatica, sc. ars; Gr. ypaµ)

grammar, See also:

• STYLE
• STYLE (from Gr. a-6'1ms, a column; a different word from that used in literature, see below)

style, literature and See also:

• ORATORY (Lat. oratorio, sc. ors; from orare, to speak or pray)

oratory, while those of the second and third developments were professed rhetoricians, sophistry exercised an important See also:

• INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence upon literature . Then again, as the movement, taking its rise in the philosophical See also:

• AGNOSTICISM

agnosticism which See also:

• GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew out of the See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early See also:

• PHYSICAL

physical systems, was itself persistently sceptical, sophistry may be regarded as an interlude in the See also:

• HISTORY

history of See also:

• PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

philosophy . Finally, the practice of rhetoric and eristic, which presently became prominent in sophistical teaching, had, or at any See also:

• RATE

rate seemed to have, a mischievous effect upon conduct; and the See also:

• CHARGE
• CHARGE (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. carricare, to load in a carrus or wagon; cf. " cargo ")

charge of seeking, whether in exposition or in debate, not truth but victory—which charge was impressively urged against the sophists by See also:

• PLATO

Plato—grew into an See also:

• ACCUSATION (Lat. accusatio, accusare, to challenge to a causa, a suit or trial at law)

accusation of holding and teaching immoral and unsocial doctrines, and in our own See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day has been the subject of eager controversy . r .

See also:

• GENESIS
• GENESIS (Gr. 'ybeo-es, becoming; the term being used in English as a synonym for origin or process of coming into being)

Genesis and Development of Sophistry.—Sophistry arose out of a crisis in philosophy . The earlier Ionian physicists, Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, in their attempts to trace the Multiplicity of things to a single material See also:

• ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element, had been troubled by no misgivings about the possibility of knowledge . But, when Heraclitus to the See also:

• ASSUMPTION, FEAST OF

assumption of See also:

• FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire as the single material cause added the See also:

• DOCTRINE

doctrine that all things are in perpetual See also:

• FLUX (Lat. fluxus, a flowing; this being also the meaning of the English term in medicine, &c.)

flux, he found himself obliged to admit that things cannot be known . Thus, though, in so far as he asserted his fundamental doctrine without doubt or qualification, he was a dogmatist, in all else he was a sceptic . Again, the Eleatic Parmenides, deriving from the theologian See also:

• XENOPHANES

Xenophanes the distinction between rurrrlµ' and See also:

• SOFA

Sofa, conceived that, whilst the One exists and is the See also:

• OBJECT

object of knowledge, the Multiplicity of things becomes and is the object of See also:

• OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion; but, when his successor See also:

• ZENO

Zeno provided the See also:

• SYSTEM

system with a See also:

• LOGIC (Xoy1K7, sc. rixvrt, the art of reasoning)

logic, the consistent application of that logic resolved the fundamental doctrine into the single proposition " One is One," or, more exactly, into the single identity " One One." Thus Eleaticism. though professedly dogmatic, was inconsistent in its theory of the One and its attributes, and openly sceptical in regard to the See also:

• WORLD

world of nature . Lastly, the philosophers of the second physical See also:

• SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession —See also:

• EMPEDOCLES (c. 490–430 B.C.)

Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus—not directly attacking the great See also:

• MYSTERY (Gr. µw(Trilpcov, from tcuvrm, an initiate, µfew, to shut the mouth)

mystery of the One and the Many, but in virtue of a scientific See also:

• INSTINCT

instinct approaching it through the investigation of phenomena, were brought by their study of sensation to perceive and to proclaim the inadequacy of the See also:

• ORGANS

organs of sense . Thus they too, despite their See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air of dogmatism, were in effect sceptics . In See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short, from different standpoints, the three philosophical successions had devised systems which were in reality sceptical, though they had none of them recognized the sceptical inference . Towards the middle of the 5th century, however, See also:

• PROTAGORAS (c. 481-411 B.C.)

Protagoras of See also:

• ABDERA

Abdera, taking See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of the teaching of the first, and possibly of the second, of the physical successions, and See also:

• GORGIAS (c. 483–375 B.C.)

Gorgias of See also:

• LEONTINI (mod. Lentini)

Leontini, starting from the teaching of the metaphysical succession of Elea, See also:

• DREW
• DREW, SAMUEL (1765-1833)

drew that sceptical inference from which the philosophers had shrunk . If, argued Protagoras in a See also:

• TREATISE

treatise entitled Truth, all things are in flux, so that sensation is subjective, it follows that " See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

Man is the measure of all things, of what is, that it is, and of what is not, that it is not "; in other words, there is no such thing as See also:

• OBJECTIVE, or OBJECT GLASS

objective truth . Similarly, Gorgias, in a See also:

• WORK

work On Nature, or on the Nonent, maintained (a) that nothing is, (b) that, if anything is, it cannot be known, (c) that, if anything is and can be known, it cannot be expressed in speech; and the summaries which have been preserved by Sextus Empiricus (Adv . Math. vii .

65–87) and by the author of the De Melisso, &c . (chs . 5, 6), show that, in defending these propositions, Gorgias availed himself of the arguments which Zeno had used to discredit the popular belief in the existence of the Many; in other words, that Gorgias turned the destructive logic of Zeno against the constructive See also:

• ONTOLOGY (adapted from a modern Latin form ontologia used by Jean le Clerc 1692; Gr. 6v, Evros, pres. part. of dam, to be, and klryos, science)

ontology of Parmenides, thereby not only reducing Eleaticism to nothingness, but also, until such See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time as a better logic than that of Zeno should be provided, precluding all philosophical inquiry whatsoever . Thus, whereas the representatives of the three successions had continued to regard themselves as philosophers or seekers after truth, Protagoras and Gorgias, plainly acknowledging their defeat, withdrew from the ungrateful struggle . Meagre as were the results which the earlier thinkers had obtained, the extinction of philosophy just at the time when the liberal arts became more technical and consequently less available as employments of leisure, threatened to leave a See also:

• BLANK (from the Fr. blanc, white)

blank in Hellenic life . Accordingly Protagoras, while with the one hand he put away philosophy, with the other offered a substitute . Emphasizing the See also:

• FUNCTION

function of the teacher, which with the philosophers had been subordinate, and proclaiming the right end of intellectual endeavour to be, not " truth " (&X iOeca) or " See also:

• WISDOM, BOOK OF, or WISDOM OF SOLOMON (Sept. Io4ia IaXwµwvos; Lat. Vulg. Liber sapientiae)

wisdom " (aorga), which was unattainable, but " virtue " or " excellence " (apeTi), he sought to communicate, not a theory of the universe, but an aptitude for civic life . " The See also:

• LESSON (through Fr. lecon from Lat. lectio, reading; legere, to read)

lesson which I have to See also:

• TEACH [THATCH OR THACH], EDWARD (d. 1718)

teach," Plato makes him say (Prot . 318 E), " is prudence or See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good counsel, both in respect of domestic matters that the man may See also:

• MANAGE

manage his See also:

• HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household aright, and in respect of public affairs, that he may be thoroughly qualified to take See also:

• PART

part, both by See also:

• DEED (in O. Eng. dead, from the stem of the verb " to do ")

deed and by word, in the business of the See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state . In other words, I profess to make men good citizens." As instruments of education Protagoras used grammar, style, See also:

• POETRY

poetry and oratory . Thus, whereas hitherto the See also:

• YOUNG
• YOUNG, A
• YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820)
• YOUNG, BRIGHAM (1801-1877)
• YOUNG, CHARLES MAYNE (1777–1856)
• YOUNG, EDWARD (1683–1765)
• YOUNG, JAMES (1811-1883)
• YOUNG, THOMAS (1773-1829)

young See also:

• GREEK
• GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND

Greek, having completed his elementary training in the schools of the ypaµµaroari7s, the KL8apurls, and the raulorpi(3ns, was See also:

• LEFT

left to prepare himself for his life's work as best he might, by philosophical See also:

• SPECULATION

speculation, by See also:

• ARTISTIC

artistic practice, or otherwise, one who passed from the elementary schools to the lecture-See also:

• ROOM

room of Protagoras received from him a " higher education." The See also:

• PROGRAMME, or PROGRAM

programme was exclusively See also:

• LITERARY

literary, but for the moment it enabled Protagoras to satisfy the demand which he had discovered and evoked . Wherever he went, his lecture-room was crowded with admiring pupils, whose See also:

• HOMAGE (from homo, through the Low Lat. hominaticum, which occurs in a document of 1035)

homage filled his See also:

• PURSE (Late Lat. bursa, adapted from Gr. Gupta, hide, skin; possibly O. Eng. pusa, bag, has influenced the change from b to p)

purse and enhanced his reputation .

After Protagoras the most prominent of the literary sophists was Prodicus of See also:

• CEOS (Gr. Kiws, mod. Zea or Tzia)

Ceos . Establishing himself at See also:

• ATHENS
• ATHENS ['AN vat, Athenae, modem colloquial Greek `Ath va]

Athens, he taught " virtue " or " excellence," in the sense attached to the word by Protagoras, partly by means of literary subjects, partly in discourses upon See also:

• PRACTICAL

practical See also:

• ETHICS
• ETHICS, SHAFTESBURY, HOBBES

ethics . It is See also:

• PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain that Prodicus was an affected See also:

• PEDANT

pedant; yet his See also:

• SIMPLE

simple conventional morality found favour, and Plato (See also:

• REP, REPP, or REPS

Rep . 600 C) couples him with Protagoras in his testimony to the popularity of the sophists and their teaching . At Athens, the centre of the intellectual life of Greece, there was soon to be found a See also:

• HOST

host of sophists; some of them strangers, others citizens; some of them bred under Protagoras and Prodicus, others Self-taught . In the teaching of the sophists of this younger See also:

• GENERATION (from Lat. generare, to beget, procreate; genus, stock, race)

generation two points are observable . First, their See also:

• INDEPENDENCE
• INDEPENDENCE, DECLARATION OF
• INDEPENDENCE, WAR OF

independence of philosophy and the arts being assured, though they continued to regard " civic excellence " as their aim, it was no longer necessary for them to make the assertion of its claims a principal element in their exposition . Secondly, for the See also:

• SAKE

sake of novelty they extended their range, including scientific and technical subjects, but handling them, and teaching their pupils to handle them, in a popular way . In this See also:

• STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage of sophistry then, the sophist, though not a specialist, trenched upon the provinces of specialists; and accordingly Plato (Prot . 318 E) makes Protagoras pointedly refer to sophists who, " when young men have made their See also:

• ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape from the arts, plunge themonce more into technical study, and teach them such subjects as See also:

• ARITHMETIC (Gr. apeOµ7run7, sc. TEXVn, the art of counting, from (ipLBµos, number)

arithmetic, See also:

• ASTRONOMY (from Gr. &arpov, a star, and v ,usiv, to classify or arrange)

astronomy, See also:

• GEOMETRY

geometry and music." The sophist of whom the Platonic Protagoras is here thinking was Hippias of See also:

• ELIS
• ELIS, or ELEIA
• ELIS, PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOL OF

Elis, who gave popular lectures, not only upon the four subjects just mentioned, but also upon grammar, See also:

• MYTHOLOGY

mythology, See also:

• FAMILY

family history, See also:

• ARCHAEOLOGY (from Gr. &pxa1a, ancient things, and Xoyos, theory or science)

archaeology, Homerology and the education of youth . In this polymath we see at once the degradation of the sophistry of culture and the See also:

• LINK

link which connects Protagoras and Prodicus with the eristics, who at a later period taught, not, like Hippias, all branches of learning, but a universally applicable method of disputation . Meanwhile, Gorgias of Leontini, who, as has been seen, had studied and rejected the philosophy of western Greece, gave to sophistry a new direction by bringing to the See also:

• MOTHER

mother' See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country the technical study of rhetoric—especially forensic rhetoric (Plato, Gorg .

454 B; cf . See also:

• ARISTOTLE
• ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)

Aristotle, Rhet . 1354, b 26)—which study had begun in See also:

• SICILY (Ital. Sicilia)

Sicily with Corax and Tisias nearly See also:

• FORTY

forty years before . Gorgias was already advanced in years and See also:

• RICH, BARNABE (c. 1540-1617)
• RICH, CLAUDIUS JAMES (1787-1821)
• RICH, JOHN (1692-1761)
• RICH, PENELOPE, LADY (c. 1562–1607)
• RICH, RICHARD, 1ST BARON RICH (1490?-1567)

rich in honours when, in 427, he visited Athens as the See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head of an See also:

• EMBASSY

embassy sent to solicit aid against See also:

• SYRACUSE
• SYRACUSE (Gr. Mvpaaovoat; Lat. Syracusae, Ital. Siracusa)

Syracuse . Received with See also:

• ACCLAMATION (Lat. acclamatio, a shouting at)

acclamation, he spent the See also:

• REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of his See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long life in central Greece, winning See also:

• APPLAUSE (Lat. applaudere, to strike upon, clap)

applause by the display of his oratorical gifts and acquiring See also:

• WEALTH

wealth by the teaching of rhetoric . There is no See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence to show that at any period of his life he called himself a sophist; and, as Plato (Gorg . 449 A) makes him describe himself as a kitrwp, it is reasonable to suppose that he preferred that See also:

• TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title . That he should do so was only natural, since his position as a teacher of rhetoric was already secure when Protagoras made his first See also:

• APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance in the See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of a sophist; and, as Protagoras, Prodicus and the rest of the sophists of culture offered a comprehensive education, of which oratory formed only a part, whilst Gorgias made no pretence of teaching " civic excellence " (Plato, Meno, 95 C), and found a substitute for philosophy, not in literature generally, but in the professional study of rhetoric alone, it would have been convenient if the distinction between sophistry and rhetoric had been maintained . But though, as will be seen hereafter, these two sorts of education were sometimes distinguished, Gorgias and those who succeeded him as teachers of rhetoric, such as Thrasymachus of See also:

• CHALCEDON
• CHALCEDON, COUNCIL OF

Chalcedon and Polus of See also:

• AGRIGENTUM (Gr. 'Arcpayas, mod. Girgenti (q.v.))

Agrigentum, were commonly called by the title which Protagoras had assumed and brought into See also:

• FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar use . Rhetorical sophistry, as taught by Gorgias with See also:

• SPECIAL

special reference to the requirements of the law courts, led by an easy transition to See also:

• POLITICAL

political sophistry . During the century which had elapsed since the See also:

• EXPULSION (Lat. expulsio, from expellere)

expulsion of the Peisistratids and the establishment of the See also:

• DEMOCRACY (Gr. 3np.oKparia, from S)µos, the people, i.e. the commons, and Kparos, rule)

democracy, the Athenian constitution had See also:

• DEVELOPED

developed' with a rapidity which produced an oligarchical reaction, and the discussion of constitutional principles and precedents, always familiar to the See also:

• CITIZEN (a form corrupted in Eng., apparently by analogy with " denizen," from O. Fr. citeain, mod. Fr. citoyen)

citizen of Athens, was thus abnormally stimulated . The Peloponnesian See also:

• WAR
• WAR (O. Eng. werre, Fr. guerre, of Teutonic origin; cf. O.H.G. werran, to confound)

War, too, not only added a deeper See also:

• INTEREST

interest to See also:

• ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary questions of policy, but also caused the relations of dissentient parties, of allied and belligerent states, of citizens and aliens, of See also:

• BOND
• BOND, SIR EDWARD AUGUSTUS (1815-1898)

bond and See also:

• FREE

free, of Greeks and barbarians, to be eagerly debated in the See also:

• LIGHT

light of See also:

• PRESENT

present experience .

It was only natural then that some of those who professed to prepare young Athenians for public life should give to their teaching a distinctively political direction; and accordingly we find Isocrates recognizing teachers of politics, and discriminating them at once from those earlier sophists who gave popular instruction in the arts and from the contemporary eristics . To this class, that of the political sophists, may be assigned See also:

• LYCOPHRON

Lycophron, See also:

• ALCIDAMAS

Alcidamas and Isocrates himself . For, though that celebrated personage would have liked to be called, not " sophist " but " political philosopher," and tried to fasten the name of " sophist " upon his opponents the Socratics, it is clear from his own statement that he was commonly ranked with the sophists, and that he had no claim, except on the See also:

• SCORE (O.E. scor, from sceran, to cut, notch, cf. " shear ")

score of superior popularity and success, to be dissociated from the other teachers of political rhetoric . It is true that he was not a political sophist of the vulgar type, that as a theorist he was honest and patriotic, and that, in addition to his fame as a teacher, he had a distinct reputation as a man of letters; but he was a See also:

• PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

professor of political rhetoric, and, as such, in the phraseology of the day, a sophist . He had already reached the height of his fame when Plato opened a See also:

• RIVAL

rival school at the Academy, and pointedly attacked him in the Gorgias, the .See also:

• PHAEDRUS

Phaedrus and the See also:

• REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

Republic . Thenceforward, there was a perpetual controversy between the rhetorician and the philosopher, and the struggle of educational systems continued until, in the next generation, the philosophers were left in See also:

• POSSESSION
• POSSESSION (Lat. possessio, possidere, to possess)

possession of the See also:

• FIELD (a word common to many West German languages, cf. Ger. Feld, Dutch veld, possibly cognate with O.E. f olde, the earth, and ultimately with root of the Gr. irAaror, broad)
• FIELD, CYRUS WEST (1819-1892)
• FIELD, DAVID DUDLEY (18o5-1894)
• FIELD, EUGENE (1850-1895)
• FIELD, FREDERICK (18o1—1885)
• FIELD, HENRY MARTYN (1822-1907)
• FIELD, JOHN (1782—1837)
• FIELD, MARSHALL (183 1906)
• FIELD, NATHAN (1587—1633)
• FIELD, STEPHEN JOHNSON (1816-1899)
• FIELD, WILLIAM VENTRIS FIELD, BARON (1813-1907)

field . While the sophistry of rhetoric led to the sophistry of politics, the sophistry of culture led to the sophistry of disputation . It has been seen that the range of subjects recognized by Protagoras and Prodicus gradually extended itself, until Hippias professed himself a teacher of all branches of learning, including in his See also:

• LIST (O.E. lisle, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr. lisle)
• LIST, FRIEDRICH (1789-1846)

list subjects taught by artists and professional men, but handling them from a popular or non-professional point of view . The successors of the polymath claimed to possess and to communicate, not the knowledge of all branches of learning, but an aptitude for dealing with all subjects, which aptitude should make the knowledge of any subject superfluous . In other words, they cultivated skill in disputation . Now skill in disputation is plainly a valuable accomplishment; and, as the Aristotelian logic grew out of the regulated discussions of the eristics and their pupils, the disputant sophistry of the 4th century deserves more See also:

• ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention and more respect than it usually receives from historians of Greek thought . But when men set themselves to cultivate skill in disputation, regarding the See also:

• MATTER

matter discussed not as a serious issue, but as a thesis upon which to practise their See also:

• POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers of controversy, they learn to pursue, not truth, but victory; and, their criterion of excellence having been thus perverted, they presently prefer ingenious See also:

• FALLACY (Lat. fall-ax, apt to mislead)

fallacy to solid reasoning and the applause of bystanders to the consciousness of honest effort .

Indeed, the sophists generally had a special predisposition to See also:

• ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

error of this sort, not only because sophistry was from the beginning a substitute for the pursuit of truth, but also because the successful professor, travelling from See also:

• CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city to city, or settling abroad, could take no part in public affairs, and thus was not at every step reminded of the importance of the " material " element of exposition and reasoning . See also:

• PARADOX (Gr. treat, beyond, contrary to, Sofia, opinion)

Paradox, however, soon becomes stale, and fallacy wearisome . Hence, despite its See also:

• ORIGINAL

original popularity, eristical sophistry could not hold its ground . The man of the world who had cultivated it in his youth regarded it in riper years as a foolish pedantry, or '.t best as a propaedeutic exercise; while the serious student, necessarily preferring that See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of disputation which recognized truth as the end of this, as of other intellectual processes, betook himself to one or other of the philosophies of the revival . In See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order to See also:

• COMPLETE

complete this See also:

• SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

sketch of the development of sophistry in the latter See also:

• HALF

half of the 5th century and the earlier half of the 4th, it is necessary next to take account of Socrates and the Socratics . A foe to philosophy and a renegade from See also:

• ART

art, Socrates took his departure from the same point as Protagoras, and moved in the same direction, that of the education of youth . Finding in the cultivation of " virtue " or " excellence " a substitute for the pursuit of scientific truth, and in disputation the See also:

• SOLE (Solea)

sole means by which " virtue " or " excellence " could be attained, he resembled at once the sophists of culture and the sophists of eristic . But, inasmuch as the " virtue " or " excellence " which he sought was that of the man rather than that of the See also:

• OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official, while the disputation which he practised had for its aim, not victory, but the elimination of error, the See also:

• DIFFERENCES, CALCULUS OF (Theory of Finite Differences)

differences which separated him from the sophists of culture and the sophists of eristic were only less considerable than the resemblances which he See also:

• BORE

bore to both; and further, though his whole time and attention were bestowed upon the education of young Athenians, his theory of the relations of teacher and See also:

• PUPIL (Lat. pupillus, orphan, minor, dim. of pupus, boy, allied to puer, from root pm- or peu-, to beget, cf. "pupa," Lat. for " doll," the name given to the stage intervening between the larval and imaginal stages in certain insects)

pupil differed from that of the recognized professors of education, inasmuch as the taking of fees seemed to him to See also:

• ENTAIL (from Fr. tailler, to cut; the old derivation from tales haeredes is now abandoned)

entail a See also:

• BASE

base surrender of the teacher's independence . The principal characteristics of Socrates's theory of education were accepted, mutatis mutandis, by the leading Socratics . With these resemblances to the contemporary professors of education, and with thesedifferences, were Socrates and the Socratics sophists or not ? To this question there is no simple See also:

• ANSWER (derived from and, against, and the same root as swear)

answer, yes or no . It is certain that Socrates's contemporaries regarded him as a sophist; and it was only reasonable that they should so regard him, because in opposition to the physicists of the past and the artists of the present he asserted the claims of higher education .

But, though according to the phraseology of the time he was a sophist, he was not a typical sophist—his principle that, while scientific truth is unattainable by man; right opinion is the only basis of right See also:

• ACTION

action, clearly differentiating him from all the other professors of " virtue." Again, as the Socratics—Plato himself, when he established himself at the Academy, being no exception—were, like their See also:

• MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master, educators rather than philosophers, and in their teaching laid especial stress upon discussion, they, too, were doubtless regarded as sophists, not by Isocrates only, but by their contemporaries in general; and it may be conjectured that the disputatious tendencies of the Megarian school made it all the more difficult for Plato and others to secure a proper appreciation of the difference between See also:

• DIALECTIC, or DIALECTICS

dialectic, or discussion with a view to the See also:

• DISCOVERY

discovery of truth, and eristic, or discussion with a view to victory . Changing circumstances, however, carry with them changes in the meaning and application of words . Whereas, so long as philosophy was in See also:

• ABEYANCE (O. Fr. abeance, " gaping")

abeyance Socrates and the Socratics were regarded as sophists of an abnormal sort, as soon as philosophy revived it was dimly perceived that, in so far as Socrates and the Socratics dissented from sophistry, they preserved the philosophical tradition . This being so, it was found convenient to revise the terminology of the past, and to include in the philosophical succession those who, though not philosophers, had cherished the sacred spark . As for Socrates, he ranked himself neither with the philosophers, who professed to know, nor with the sophists, who professed to teach; and, if he sometimes described himself as a 4aXbvo4cs he was careful to indicate that he pretended to no other knowledge than that of his own limitations . It would seem then, (r) that popular nomenclature included under the See also:

• TERM

term " sophist " all teachers—whether professors, or like Socrates, amateurs—who communicated, not artistic skill, nor philosophical theory, but a general or liberal education; (2) that, of those who were commonly accounted sophists, some professed culture, some forensic rhetoric, some political rhetoric, some eristic, some (i.e. the Socratics) dialectic; (3) that the differences between the different See also:

• GROUPS
• GROUPS, THEORY

groups of sophists were not inconsiderable, and that in particular the teaching of the rhetoricians was distinct in origin, and, in so far as its aim was success in a special walk of life, distinct in character, from the more general teaching of the sophists of culture, the eristics, and the dialecticians, while the teaching of the dialecticians was discriminated from that of the rest, in-so far as the aim of the dialecticians was truth, or at least the bettering of opinion; and, consequently, (4) that, in awarding praise and blame to sophistry and its representatives, the distinctive characteristics of the groups above enumerated must be studiously kept in view . See also:

• LAPSE (Lat. lapses, a slip or departure)

Lapse of time and See also:

• CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change of circumstances brought with them not merely changes in the subjects taught, but also changes in the popular estimate of sophistry and sophists . The first and most obvious sentiment which sophistry evoked was an enthusiastic and admiring interest . The sophist seemed to his youthful hearers to open a new field of intellectual activity and thereby to add a fresh zest to existence . But in proportion to the See also:

• FASCINATION (from Lat. fascinare, to bewitch, probably connected with the Or. f3ao-Kaiveev, to speak ill of, to bewitch)

fascination which he exercised upon the young was the distrust which he inspired in their less pliable elders . Not only were they dismayed by the novelty of the sophistical teaching, but also they vaguely perceived that it was subversive of authority, of the authority of the See also:

• PARENT, SIMON NAPOLEON (1855– )

parent over the See also:

• CHILD
• CHILD, FRANCIS JAMES (1825-1896)
• CHILD, L
• CHILD, LYDIA MARIA (1802-1880)
• CHILD, SIR FRANCIS (1642-1713)
• CHILD, SIR JOHN (d. 1690)
• CHILD, SIR JOSIAH (163o - 1699)

child as well as of the authority of the state over the citizen . Of the two conflicting sentiments, the favour of the young, gaining as years passed away, naturally prevailed; sophistry ceased to be novel, and attendance in the lecture-rooms of the sophists came to be thought not less necessary for the youth than attendance in the elementary schools for the boy .

The lively See also:

• ENTHUSIASM

enthusiasm and the furious opposition which greeted Protagoras had now burnt themselves out, and before long the sophist was treated by the man of the world as a harmless, necessary See also:

• PEDAGOGUE

pedagogue . That sophistry must be studied in its See also:

• HISTORICAL

historical development was clearly seen by Plato, whose See also:

• DIALOGUE

dialogue called the Sophist contains a formal See also:

• REVIEW (Fr. revue, from revoir, to see again, Lat. re and videre)

review of the changing phases and aspects of sophistical teaching . The subject which is discussed in that dialogue and its successor, the Statesman, being the question " Are sophist, statesman, and philosopher identical or different?" the Eleate who acts as protagonist seeks a See also:

• DEFINITION (Lat. definitio, from de-finire, to set limits to, describe)

definition of the term " sophist " by means of a See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of divisions or dichotomies . In this way he is led to regard the sophist successively—(t) as a practitioner of that See also:

• BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch of See also:

• MERCENARY (Lat. mercenarius, from merces, reward, gain)

mercenary persuasion in private which professes to impart " virtue " and exacts See also:

• PAYMENT (Fr. paiement, from payer, to pay; Lat. pacare, to appease, pax, peace)

payment in the shape of a See also:

• FEE

fee, in opposition to the flatterer who offers See also:

• PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure, asking for sustenance in return; (2) as a practitioner of that branch of See also:

• MENTAL

mental trading which purveys from city to city discourses and lessons about " virtue," in opposition to the artist who similarly purveys discourses and lessons about the arts; (3) and (4) as a practitioner of those branches of mental trading, See also:

• RETAIL

retail and wholesale, which purvey discourses and lessons about " virtue " within a city, in opposition to the artists who similarly purvey discourses and lessons about the arts; (5) as a practitioner of that branch of eristic which brings to the professor pecuniary emolument, eristic being the systematic form of antilogic, and dealing with See also:

• JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice, injustice and other abstractions, and antilogic being that form of disputation which uses question and answer in private, in opposition to forensic, which uses continuous discourse in the law-courts; (6) as a practitioner of that branch of education which purges away the vain conceit of wisdom by means of See also:

• CROSS

cross-examination, in opposition to the traditional method of reproof or admonition . These See also:

• DEFINITIONS

definitions being thus various, the Eleate notes that the sophist, in See also:

• CONSIDERATION (from Lat. considerare, to look at closely, examine, generally taken to be from con-, and the base seen in sidus, sideris, a star, the word being supposed to be originally an astrological or astronomical term)

consideration of a fee, disputes, and teaches others to dispute, about things divine, cosmical, metaphysical, legal, political, technical—in fact, about everything—not having know-ledge of them, because universal knowledge is unattainable; after which he is in a position to define the sophist (7) as a conscious impostor who, in private, by discontinuous discourse, compels his interlocutor to contradict himself, in opposition to the S,tµo1oyuc6s, who, in public, by continuous discourse, imposes upon crowds . It is clear that the final definition is preferred, not because of any .See also:

• INTRINSIC (through Fr. intrinsique, from Lat. intrinsecus, inwardly; inter, within, secus, following, from root of sequi, to follow)

intrinsic superiority, but because it has a See also:

• DIRECT

direct bearing upon the question " Are sophist, statesman and philosopher identical or different?" and that the various definitions represent different stages or forms of sophistry as conceived from different points of view . Thus the first and second definitions represent the founders of the sophistry of culture, Protagoras and Prodicus, from the respective points of view of the older Athenians, who disliked the new culture, and the younger Athenians, who admired it; the third and See also:

• FOURTH

fourth definitions represent imitators to whom the See also:

• NOTE
• NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know)

note of itinerancy was not applicable; the fifth definition represents the earlier eristics, contemporaries of Socrates, whom it was necessary to distinguish from the teachers of forensic oratory; the See also:

• SIXTH

sixth is framed to meet the anomalous See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case of Socrates, in whom many saw the typical sophist, though Plato conceives this view to be unfortunate; and the seventh and final definition, having in view eristical sophistry fully developed, distinguishes it from SMuoXoyxK$, i.e. political rhetoric, but at the same time hints that, though ao¢coris$ and Sr/µoaoyL,o may be discriminated, they are nevertheless near akin, the one being the See also:

• APE (Old Eng. ape; Dutch aap; Old Ger. a ffo; Welsh epa; Old Bohemian op; a word of uncertain origin, possibly an imitation of the animal's chatter)

ape of philosophy, the other the ape of statesmanship . In short, Plato traces the changes which, in less than a century, had taken place in the meaning of the term, partly through changes in the practice of the sophists, partly through changes in their surroundings and in public opinion, so as to show by a familiar instance that general terms which do not describe natural kinds cannot have a See also:

• STABLE

stable See also:

• CONNOTATION

connotation . Now it is easy to see that in this careful statement Plato recognizes three periods . The- first four definitions represent the period of Protagoras, Prodicus, and their immediate successors, when the object sought was " virtue," " excellence," " culture," and the means to it was literature . The fifth and sixth definitions represent the See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close of the 5th century, when sophistry handled eristically, and perhaps, though Plato demurs to the inclusion, dialectically, questions of justice, injustice and the like, Sucavuj or forensic rhetoric being its proximate rival . The seventh definition represents the first half of the 4th century, when sophistry was eristical in a wider field, having for its rival, not forensic rhetoric, but the rhetoric of the assembly .

Plato's See also:

• CLASSIFICATION (Lat. classis, a class, probably from the root cal-, cla-, as in Gr. icaMce, clamor)

classification of educational theories is then substantially the classification adopted in this See also:

• ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article, though, whereas here, in accordance with well-attested popular usage, all the educational theories mentioned are included under the head of sophistry, Plato allows to rhetoric, forensic and political, an See also:

• INDEPENDENT

independent position, and hints that there are grounds for denying the title of sophist to the dialectician Socrates . Incidentally we gather two important facts—(t) that contemporary with the dialectic of Socrates there was an eristic, and (2) that this eristic was mainly applied to ethical questions . Finally, we may be sure that, if Plato was thus careful to distinguish the phases and aspects of sophistical development, he could never have fallen into the See also:

• MODERN

modern error ofbestowing upon those whom the Greeks called sophists either indiscriminate censure or indiscriminate laudation . 2 . Relations of Sophistry to Education, Literature and Philosophy.—If then the sophists, from Protagoras to Isocrates, were before everything educators, it becomes necessary to inquire whether their labours marked or promoted an advance in educational theory and method . At the beginning of the 5th century B.C. every young Greek of the better sort already received rudimentary instruction, not only in music and gymnastics, but also in reading and writing . Further, in the colonies, and especially the colonies of the See also:

• WEST
• WEST, BENJAMIN (1738-1820)
• WEST, NICHOLAS (1461-1533)

West, philosophy and art had done something for higher education . Thus in See also:

• ITALY
• ITALY (Italia)

Italy the See also:

• PYTHAGOREAN

Pythagorean school was, in the fullest sense of the term, an educational institution; and in Sicily the rhetorical teaching of Corax and Tisias was presumably educational in the same sense as the teaching of Gorgias . But in central Greece, where, at any rate down to the See also:

• PERSIAN
• PERSIAN, SYRIAN, EGYPTIAN AND TURKISH

Persian See also:

• WARS

Wars, politics, domestic and See also:

• FOREIGN

foreign, were all-See also:

• ENGROSSING

engrossing, and left the citizen little leisure for self-cultivation, the need of a higher education had hardly made itself See also:

• FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt . The overthrow of the Persian invaders changed all this . Hence-forward the best of Greek art, philosophy, and literature gravitated to Athens, and with their concentration and consequent development came a general and growing demand for teaching . As has been seen, it was just at this pe.iod that philosophy and art ceased to be.available for educational purposes, and accordingly the literary sophists were popular precisely because they offered advanced teaching which was neither philosophical nor artistic .

Their recognition of the demand and their attempt to satisfy it are no small claims to distinction . That, whereas before the time of Protagoras there was little higher education in the colonies and less in central Greece, after his time attendance in the lecture-rooms of the sophists was the customary sequel to attendance in the elementary schools, is a fact which speaks for itself . But this is not all . The education provided by the sophists of culture had See also:

• POSITIVE (or PORTABLE) ORGAN

positive merits . When Protagoras included in his course grammar, style, See also:

• INTERPRETATION (from Lat. interpretari, to expound, explain, inter pres, an agent, go-between, interpreter; inter, between, and the root pret-, possibly connected with that seen either in Greek 4 p4'ew, to speak, or irpa-rrecv, to do)

interpretation of the poets, and oratory, supplementing his own continuous expositions by disputations in which he and his pupils took part, he showed a not inadequate appreciation of the requisites of a literary education; and it may be conjectured that his comprehensive programme, which Prodicus and others extended, had something to do with the development of that versatility which was the most notable element in the Athenian character . There is less to be said for the teachers of rhetoric, politics and eristic, who, in limiting themselves each to a single subject—the rhetoricians proper or forensic rhetoricians to one branch of oratory, the politicians or political rhetoricians to another, and the eristics to disputation—ceased to be educators and became instructors . Nevertheless, rhetoric and disputation, though at the present day strangely neglected in See also:

• ENGLISH

English schools and See also:

• UNIVERSITIES

universities, are, within their limits, valuable instruments; and, as specialization in teaching does not necessarily imply specialization in learning, many of those who attended the lectures and the classes of a rhetorician or an eristic sought and found other instruction elsewhere . It would seem then that even in its decline sophistry had its educational use . But in any case it may be claimed for its professors that in the course of a century they discovered and turned to account most of the instruments of literary education . With these considerable merits, normal sophistry had one defect, its indifference to truth . Despairing of philosophy—that is to say, of physical See also:

• SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science—the sophists were prepared to go all lengths in See also:

• SCEPTICISM (o-Kesrroµai, I consider, reflect, hesitate, doubt)

scepticism . Accordingly the epideictic sophists in exposition, and the argumentative sophists in debate, one and all, studied, not matter but style, not accuracy but effect, not See also:

• PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof but persuasion .

In short, in their hostility to science they refused to handle literature in a scientific spirit . That this defect was serious was dimly apprehended even by those who frequented and admired the lectures of the earlier sophists; that it was fatal was clearly seen by Socrates, who, himself commonly regarded as a sophist, emphatically reprehended, not only the taking of fees, which was after all a See also:

• MERE
• MERE, ADALBERT (1838-1909)

mere incident, to urge upon her his odious addresses " (Rep. vi . 495 E) . It objectionable because it seemed to preclude independence of will be seen, however, that neither Socrates nor Isocrates was thought, but also the fundamental disregard of truth which philosopher in any strict sense of the word, the speculative infected every part and every phase of sophistical teaching. aims of physicists and metaphysicians being foreign to the To these contemporary censures the modern critic cannot practical theories both of the one and of the other . refuse his assent . To literature and to oratory the sophists rendered good service . Themselves of See also:

• NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity stylists, because their professional success largely depended upon skilful and effective exposition, the sophists both of culture and of rhetoric were professedly teachers of the rules of grammar and the principles of written and spoken discourse . Thus, by example as well as by See also:

• PRECEPT (Lat. praeceptum, a rule, from praecipere, literally to take beforehand, to give rules, instructions or orders)

precept, they not only taught their hearers to value literary and oratorical excellence, but also took the See also:

• LEAD
• LEAD (pronounced iced)

lead in fashioning the style of their time . Their influence in these respects was weighty and important . Whereas, when sophistry began, See also:

• PROSE

prose See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition was hardly practised in central Greece, the sophists were still the leaders in literature and oratory when Plato wrote the Republic, and they had hardly lost their position when See also:

• DEMOSTHENES

Demosthenes delivered the See also:

• PHILIPPICS

Philippics . In fact, it is not too much to say that it was the sophists who provided those great masters with their consummate See also:

• INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument, and it detracts but little from the merit of the makers if they were themselves unable to draw from it its finer tones . The relation of sophistry to philosophy was throughout one of pronounced hostility .

From the days of Protagoras, when this hostility was triumphant and contemptuous, to the days of Isocrates, when it was jealous and See also:

• BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter, the sophists were declared and consistent sceptics . But, although Protagoras and Gorgias had examined the teaching of their predecessors so far as to satisfy themselves of its futility and to draw the sceptical inference, their study of the great problem of the day was preliminary to their sophistry rather than a part of it; and, as the overthrow of philosophy was complete and the attractions of sophistry were all-powerful, the question " What is knowledge ? " ceased for a time to claim or to receive attention . There is, then, no such thing as a " sophistical theory of know-ledge." Similarly, the recognition of a " sophistical ethic " is, to say the least, misleading . It may have been that the sophists' preference of seeming to reality, of success to truth, had a mischievous effect upon the morality of the time; but it is clear that they had no See also:

• COMMON

common theory of ethics, and there is no See also:

• WARRANT (Med. Lat. warantum; O. Fr. garant, warant, derived from O.H.G. root represented in modern German bygewdhren)

warrant for the assumption that a sophist, as such, specially interested himself in ethical questions . When Protagoras asserted " civic excellence " or " virtue " to be the end of education, he neither expressed nor implied a theory of morality . Prodicus in his platitudes reflected the customary morality of the time . Gorgias said plainly that he did not teach " virtue." If Hippias, Polus and Thrasymachus defied conventional morality, they did so independently of one another, and in this, as in other matters, they were .disputants maintaining paradoxical theses, rather than thinkers announcing heretical convictions . The morality of Isocrates bore a certain resemblance to that of Socrates . In short, the attitude of the sophists towards inquiry in general precluded them, collectively and individually, from See also:

• ATTACHMENT

attachment to any particular theory . Yet among the so-called sophists there were two who had philosophical leanings, as appears in their willingness to be called by the title of philosopher . First, Socrates, whilst he conceived that the physicists had mistaken the field of inquiry, See also:

• ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free)

absolute truth being unattainable, maintained, as has been seen, that one opinion was better than another, and that consistency of opinion, resulting in consistency of action, was the end which the human See also:

• INTELLECT (Lat. intellectus, from intelligere, to understand)

intellect properly See also:

• PRO

pro-poses to itself .

Hence, though an agnostic, he was not unwilling to be called a philosopher, in so far as he pursued such truth as was attainable by man . Secondly, when sophistry had begun to fall into contempt, the political rhetorician Isocrates claimed for himself the time-honoured designation of philosopher, " herein," says Plato, " resembling some See also:

• TINKER

tinker, bald-pated and short of stature, who, having made See also:

• MONEY

money, knocks off his chains, goes to the See also:

• BATH
• BATH, THOMAS THYNNE
• BATH, WILLIAM

bath, See also:

• BUYS

buys a new suit, and then takes See also:

• ADVANTAGE

advantage of the poverty and desolation of his master's daughter As for the classification of sophistical methods, so for their See also:

• CRITICISM
• CRITICISM (from the Gr. KpiTrlS, a judge, Kpivew, to decide, to give an authoritative opinion)

criticism, the testimony of Plato is all-important . It may be conjectured that, when he emerged from the purely Socratic phase of his earlier years, Plato gave himself to the study of contemporary methods of education and to the elaboration of an educational system of his own, and that it was in this way that he came to the metaphysical speculations of his maturity . It may be imagined further that, when he established himself at the Academy, his first care was to draw up a See also:

• SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme of education, including arithmetic, geometry (See also:

• PLANE

plane and solid), astronomy, harmonics and dialectic, and that it was not until he had arranged for the carrying out of this programme that he devoted himself to the special functions of professor of philosophy . However this may be, we find amongst his writings—intermediate, as it would seem, between the Socratic conversations of his first period of literary activity and the See also:

• META

meta-physical disquisitions of a later time—a series of dialogues which, however varied their ostensible subjects, agree in having a direct bearing upon education . Thus the Protagoras brings the educational theory of Protagoras and the sophists of culture See also:

• FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face to face with the educational theory of Socrates, so as to expose the limitations of both; the Gorgias deals with the moral aspect of the teachings of the forensic rhetorician Gorgias and the political rhetorician Isocrates, and the intellectual aspect of their respective theories of education is handled in the Phaedrus; the Meno on the one hand exhibits the strength and the weakness of the teaching of Socrates, and on the other brings into view the makeshift method of those who, despising systematic teaching, regarded the practical politician as the true educator; the See also:

• EUTHYDEMUS

Euthydemus has for its subject the eristical method ; finally, having in these dialogues characterized the current theories of education, Plato proceeds in the Republic to develop an original scheme . Plato's criticisms of the sophists are then, in the opinion of the present writer, no mere obiter dicta, introduced for purposes of literary adornment or dramatic effect, but rather the expressions of profound and reasoned conviction, and, as such, entitled at any rate to respect . For the details of Plato's critique the reader should go not to the summaries of commentators, but to the dialogues themselves . In this place it is sufficient to say that, while Plato accounts no education satisfactory which has not knowledge for its basis, he emphatically prefers the scepticism of Socrates, which, despairing of knowledge, seeks right opinion, to the scepticism of the sophists, which, despairing of knowledge, abandons the attempt to better existing beliefs . 3 . The Theory of See also:

• GROTE, GEORGE (1794–1871)

Grote.—The See also:

• POST

post-Platonic historians and critics, who, while they knew the earlier sophistry only through tradition, were eyewitnesses of the sophistry of the decadence, were more alive to the faults than to the virtues of the movement . Overlooking the differences which separated the humanists from the eristics, and both of these from the rhetoricians, and taking no account of Socrates, whom they regarded as a philosopher, they forgot the services which Protagoras and Prodicus, Gorgias and Isocrates had rendered to education and to literature, and included the whole profession in an indiscriminate and contemptuous censure .

This See also:

• PREJUDICE (Lat. praejudicium)

prejudice, establishing itself in familiar speech, has descended from antiquity to modern times, colouring, when it does not distort, the narratives of biographers and the criticisms of commentators . " The sophists," says Grote, " are spoken of as a new class of men, or sometimes in See also: