Claudia Benshimol
First Short Paper
The idea of what a philosopher is and the idea of what a sophist is tends to
get confused or mistaken. These two have certain visions and ways in common, but
they do have major, fundamental differences. Based on texts and commonly known
thoughts from centuries ago, I will argue that sophists, as in sophistry, and
philosophers, as in philosophy, differ in both their methods and their goals.
We have heard the term ‘philosopher’ and ‘sophist,’ but do we truly know
exactly what they refer to? A well-known philosopher was Socrates, which will be
one of the two characters that will form part of this analogy. The second person in
this analogy is the well-known sophist Protagoras; which brings us to their roots
and where these specific names came from: “The term ‘sophist’ means ‘wise person.’
At that time ‘sophistry’ was roughly equivalent to ‘rhetoric,’ and rhetoric is the art of
persuasion using language.” (Gray 2) Philosophy, on the other hand, “literally means
‘love of wisdom’ in Greek.” (Gray 13)
Back in these philosopher and sophists’ years (around 400 B.C.), they took
very seriously the art of persuasion when speaking in matters of justice. Justice itself
was a large component of the every day life in Athens, and persuasion respectively
was sophists’ focus when teaching. “Public persuasion was very important for their
democratic form of government.” (Gray 4) Therefore, rhetoric – as in sophistry – was
considered incredibly valuable. Also, if you could defend yourself and build a
believable, well-composed, and significative argument, then you would do well if you
ever had to go to court. “People needed to know how to argue well in case they
would go to court. The Athenians settled disputes and investigated crimes similar to
how we do now. They went to court and sued each other, and people who knew how
to argue well were at an advantage.” (Gray 5)
Alternatively, when speaking about philosophy, “it refers to the attitude of
those who want to know the truth and be wise rather than dogmatically hold onto
their false beliefs.” (Gray 13) Philosophy, then, refers to “a method of rational
argumentation and debate to be used in order to attain knowledge. We can then try
to sincerely consider what beliefs are supported by the best arguments and
evidence. We should generally believe whatever is best justified by arguments in this
