Response 2
1. “You don’t say?/ The mind draws moisture into the watercress?/ Oh Socrakitty, do come down to teach me at once and teach me all I’ve come to learn…A yearning to learn how to speak. I’m being harassed and stripped and plundered by the most vulturine creditors.” (Aristophanes, The Clouds, 144)
In this passage, Aristophanes begins to demonstrate the contempt he holds for the new thinkers at this time, the sophists, while also supporting his argument on why they should be disdained. At the time of Aristophanes, philosophy—especially the sophists’ way of thinking was gaining popularity; sophists’ ideology was that all one had to do to be right was convince their opponent, ethics did not need to be used. Aristophanes condemned this …show more content…
Good Reason is arguing against Mr. Bad Reason on what type of education Phidippides, Strepsiades’ son, should receive. Aristophanes’ furthers his argument against sophist thinking in this passage as he points out the moral education and its benefits while Mr. Bad Reason undercuts each aspect of moral education with the idea that it is boring—but his type of education can give you happiness. Aristophanes’ takes the case that amoral rhetoric brings an easier, happier lifestyle and adds the fact that this pleasure is always fleeting. To further sustain this assertion, Aristophanes directly calls this school “noneducation”; he sees this perversion of tradition and lack of morality as a road that will only lead to danger, not an improvement of intelligence or critical thinking. This text also foreshadows the later reveal of Mr. Bad Reason’s oscillating allegiances, he was never truly on the side of amoral tactics and knew how using this type of argument style could cause unintended consequences. This literary device is especially seen in the line: “One day the Athenians will come to know what downright noneducation you’ve been doling out…”. Through this passage it is clear that Aristophanes’ play is designed to state his attack of the Sophist’s way of thinking while also showcasing the dangers of …show more content…
Aristophanes’ portrays the gods of the Sophists as fickle—only allowing Strepsiades to believe the sophist’s thinking was a correct choice so the lesson would be learned even more deeply. Strepsiades is only able to learn that traditional morals were the education he should have kept with when his son Phidippides begins to hit him, an act that was incredibly wrong in Ancient Greece. Yet Phidippides is able to reason his way out of trouble for hurting his father because of the rhetoric Strepsiades forced his son to learn. It is here that it is revealed that these “new gods” do not care about its worshippers nor the supposed doctrine they represent. Instead they wanted to playfully have their worshippers learn a lesson by forcing them to reject the old, good gods and embrace an amoral life so as to teach them the value of tradition. This characterization of both the Clouds and the consequences of sophism is the final clear reason why Aristophanes’ believes this new education should be abandoned in favor of the traditional learning. Yes, the traditional education could be seen as strict and boring, but it is the right path that will create a better society, Aristophanes points
1. “You don’t say?/ The mind draws moisture into the watercress?/ Oh Socrakitty, do come down to teach me at once and teach me all I’ve come to learn…A yearning to learn how to speak. I’m being harassed and stripped and plundered by the most vulturine creditors.” (Aristophanes, The Clouds, 144)
In this passage, Aristophanes begins to demonstrate the contempt he holds for the new thinkers at this time, the sophists, while also supporting his argument on why they should be disdained. At the time of Aristophanes, philosophy—especially the sophists’ way of thinking was gaining popularity; sophists’ ideology was that all one had to do to be right was convince their opponent, ethics did not need to be used. Aristophanes condemned this …show more content…
Good Reason is arguing against Mr. Bad Reason on what type of education Phidippides, Strepsiades’ son, should receive. Aristophanes’ furthers his argument against sophist thinking in this passage as he points out the moral education and its benefits while Mr. Bad Reason undercuts each aspect of moral education with the idea that it is boring—but his type of education can give you happiness. Aristophanes’ takes the case that amoral rhetoric brings an easier, happier lifestyle and adds the fact that this pleasure is always fleeting. To further sustain this assertion, Aristophanes directly calls this school “noneducation”; he sees this perversion of tradition and lack of morality as a road that will only lead to danger, not an improvement of intelligence or critical thinking. This text also foreshadows the later reveal of Mr. Bad Reason’s oscillating allegiances, he was never truly on the side of amoral tactics and knew how using this type of argument style could cause unintended consequences. This literary device is especially seen in the line: “One day the Athenians will come to know what downright noneducation you’ve been doling out…”. Through this passage it is clear that Aristophanes’ play is designed to state his attack of the Sophist’s way of thinking while also showcasing the dangers of …show more content…
Aristophanes’ portrays the gods of the Sophists as fickle—only allowing Strepsiades to believe the sophist’s thinking was a correct choice so the lesson would be learned even more deeply. Strepsiades is only able to learn that traditional morals were the education he should have kept with when his son Phidippides begins to hit him, an act that was incredibly wrong in Ancient Greece. Yet Phidippides is able to reason his way out of trouble for hurting his father because of the rhetoric Strepsiades forced his son to learn. It is here that it is revealed that these “new gods” do not care about its worshippers nor the supposed doctrine they represent. Instead they wanted to playfully have their worshippers learn a lesson by forcing them to reject the old, good gods and embrace an amoral life so as to teach them the value of tradition. This characterization of both the Clouds and the consequences of sophism is the final clear reason why Aristophanes’ believes this new education should be abandoned in favor of the traditional learning. Yes, the traditional education could be seen as strict and boring, but it is the right path that will create a better society, Aristophanes points