Socrates vs Sophists
Although both the Sophists and Socrates are considered philosophers due to their interest in human morality, their outlook regarding the subject of truth differs greatly. The Sophists, were skeptics on the matter of the existence of eternal truth, whilst to Socrates truth was an absolute.
First of all, sophists took money for their efforts. They charged people and claimed that their teachings would make people wiser. Socrates, on the contrary, made no money for his efforts, and he did not claim he was making anyone wiser. In fact, he claimed he was only helping them remember what their souls forgot but could not remember.
Secondly, the sophists were not loyal to any single city. They were a group of intellectuals that travelled …show more content…
Up to the fifth century B.C. it was the common belief that arête was inborn and that aristocratic birth alone qualified a person for politics, but Protagoras taught that arête is the result of training and not innate. The Sophists claimed to be able to help their students better themselves through the acquisition of certain practical skills, especially rhetoric. Advancement in politics was almost entirely dependent upon rhetorical skills. The Athenian democracy with its assembly, in which any citizen could speak on domestic and foreign affairs, and the council of five hundred, on which every Athenian citizen got a chance to serve, required an ability to speak persuasively. The Sophists filled this need for rhetorical training and by their teaching proved that education could make an individual a more effective citizen and improve his status in Athenian society. (Melchart …show more content…
For the sophists, knowledge is a means to power and is to be used for political gain. For Socrates, knowledge and wisdom are to be attained for personal growth and to bring one's soul closer to the truth. Socrates also believed that ideals belong in a world that only the wise man can understand". He had no particular beliefs on politics but did object to democracy, but disliked its Athenian form. Basically, he objected to any government that did not run on the basis of his ideas of perfect governance. Socrates refused to enter politics because he could not tell other people how to lead their lives when he didn't know how to live his own. He thought he was a philosopher of truth, which he had not fully discovered. Towards the end of his life, democracy was supplanted by the Thirty Tyrants for around one year, before being restored. For Socrates, the Thirty Tyrants were. No better and arguably worse rulers than the democracy they sought to
Although both the Sophists and Socrates are considered philosophers due to their interest in human morality, their outlook regarding the subject of truth differs greatly. The Sophists, were skeptics on the matter of the existence of eternal truth, whilst to Socrates truth was an absolute.
First of all, sophists took money for their efforts. They charged people and claimed that their teachings would make people wiser. Socrates, on the contrary, made no money for his efforts, and he did not claim he was making anyone wiser. In fact, he claimed he was only helping them remember what their souls forgot but could not remember.
Secondly, the sophists were not loyal to any single city. They were a group of intellectuals that travelled …show more content…
Up to the fifth century B.C. it was the common belief that arête was inborn and that aristocratic birth alone qualified a person for politics, but Protagoras taught that arête is the result of training and not innate. The Sophists claimed to be able to help their students better themselves through the acquisition of certain practical skills, especially rhetoric. Advancement in politics was almost entirely dependent upon rhetorical skills. The Athenian democracy with its assembly, in which any citizen could speak on domestic and foreign affairs, and the council of five hundred, on which every Athenian citizen got a chance to serve, required an ability to speak persuasively. The Sophists filled this need for rhetorical training and by their teaching proved that education could make an individual a more effective citizen and improve his status in Athenian society. (Melchart …show more content…
For the sophists, knowledge is a means to power and is to be used for political gain. For Socrates, knowledge and wisdom are to be attained for personal growth and to bring one's soul closer to the truth. Socrates also believed that ideals belong in a world that only the wise man can understand". He had no particular beliefs on politics but did object to democracy, but disliked its Athenian form. Basically, he objected to any government that did not run on the basis of his ideas of perfect governance. Socrates refused to enter politics because he could not tell other people how to lead their lives when he didn't know how to live his own. He thought he was a philosopher of truth, which he had not fully discovered. Towards the end of his life, democracy was supplanted by the Thirty Tyrants for around one year, before being restored. For Socrates, the Thirty Tyrants were. No better and arguably worse rulers than the democracy they sought to