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What (who) is sophist - definition
ANCIENT GREEK TEACHER WHO TAUGHT “VIRTUE” TO YOUNG STATESMEN AND NOBLES, OFTEN USING PHILOSOPHY AND RHETORIC
Sophists; Sophist movement; Sophism; Sophistry; Sofist; Sophistic movement
![Socrates was lampooned by Aristophanes in ''The Clouds'' as a pedantic wordsmith who lived in a basket. Later philosophers such as Plato and [[Xenophon]] sought to distinguish Socrates' ethical teachings from this comic portrayal of a sophist.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Socrates in a basket.jpg?width=200 "Socrates was lampooned by Aristophanes in ''The Clouds'' as a pedantic wordsmith who lived in a basket. Later philosophers such as Plato and [[Xenophon]] sought to distinguish Socrates' ethical teachings from this comic portrayal of a sophist.")
Sophist
·noun Hence, an impostor in argument; a captious or fallacious reasoner.
II. Sophist ·noun One of a class of men who taught eloquence, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece; especially, one of those who, by their fallacious but plausible reasoning, puzzled inquirers after truth, weakened the faith of the people, and drew upon themselves general hatred and contempt.
sophist
n.
Quibbler, captious reasoner, fallacious reasoner, artful logician.
sophist
['s?f?st]
¦ noun
1. a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric in ancient Greece, associated in popular thought with moral scepticism and specious reasoning.
2. a person who uses clever but fallacious arguments.
Derivatives
sophistic s?'f?st?k adjective
sophistical s?'f?st?k(?)l adjective
sophistically adverb
Origin
C16: via L. from Gk sophistes, from sophizesthai 'devise, become wise', from sophos 'wise'.
Wikipedia
Sophist
A sophist (Greek: σοφιστής, romanized: sophistes) was a 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, and mathematics. They taught arete – "virtue" or "excellence" – predominantly to young statesmen and nobility.
In the present day, however, a sophist refers to someone who deliberately argues using fallacious arguments or reasoning, in order to mislead; see the section § Modern usage below.
