11/1/2013 Plato and the Sophists

by Kiriell Popienko

     The Sophists were a group of teachers who claimed to teach virtue and proper governance, and would charge significant fees for these services. The Ancient Greeks practiced Democracy and believed that the people had the right and thus the proper knowledge to rule. Therefore, the Sophists claiming to teach the proper way to rule and that the common man did not know this posed a threat to Greek Democracy. Socrates was famously indicted on the charge of "corrupting the youth", but in fact he was brought up on three charges, one of them being Sophistry. 

     My goal in this discussion is to look at the distinctions Plato makes between a Philosopher and a Sophist in his dialogues.  By using this comparison, I hope increase everyone's overall understanding of what it means to be a Philosopher.  Many of Plato's definitions of a Philosopher come as response to or about Sophists; Plato did not want people to put Philosophy in the same category as Sophistry, because Sophistry had a bad reputation and Plato has problems with the idea of Sophistry in general.