A sophist (Greek: σοφιστής, romanized: sophistēs) was a professional travelling teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, mathematics, and arete: "virtue" or "excellence".
Explore the Sophists: Ancient Greek thinkers who shifted philosophy to human thought, rhetoric, relativism, and their lasting influence.
The Sophists were itinerant professional educators who arrived in Athens around 450 BCE. They taught rhetoric — the art of persuasion — to the newly wealthy middle class eager for political power in Athenian democracy.
Yahoo: 'Rhetoric' doesn't need to be such an ugly word – it has a lot to teach echo-chambered America
Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 'Rhetoric' has a bad rap – but some of the original rhetoricians' techniques can actually help foster productive conversations.
'Rhetoric' doesn't need to be such an ugly word – it has a lot to teach echo-chambered America
The Conversation: ‘Rhetoric’ doesn’t need to be such an ugly word – it has a lot to teach echo‑chambered America
Early on in my writing courses, I ask students to define their sense of rhetoric. Responses range from “persuasion” to “manipulation,” but they tend to share a negative connotation. Little wonder: In ...
‘Rhetoric’ doesn’t need to be such an ugly word – it has a lot to teach echo‑chambered America
Sophists traveled and witnessed diverse views of god and customs, and developed relativistic or antagonistic views for religious faith, morality, and values. They presented a skeptical or critical or antagonistic view to the existence of an absolute, permanent, and objective standard of truth.