Absolutism Vs Socrates Research Paper

Sophistry vs. Socrates Prior to the entrance of Socrates, there was a time in Athens where a group of philosophical thinkers called the Sophists corrupted society. These men were masters of rhetoric and had the ability to turn any argument in the direction they desired. A major component of their thoughts was based upon a term called relativism. In this essay, I will cross-examine the Socratic viewpoints with those of the Sophists. Topics that will be highlighted include each method of teaching, what each claims to “know”, and relativism against absolutism (physis and nomos). Although there are similarities amongst the Sophists and Socrates, there are distinct differences that separate Socrates from the Sophists and point to a better grasp of truth and relevancy. A similarity between Socrates and Sophistry is both are interested in human affairs. The method that is used to prove this is their use of rhetoric as they interact with the citizens of Athens. We will first differentiate the methods of “teaching” concepts used by Socrates and the Sophists. The Sophists were widely known for being professionals of teaching rhetoric. These men charged for instruction and those who were at the top became wealthy. This was the result of citizens requesting their services to become powerful within Athens democratic society. The way to excel in this environment was learning how to appeal to emotion, enabling a gain of personal and political power. Socrates on the other hand, did not claim to teach anything. Nor did he charge currency or have a school. Opposed to the desire for personal victory, Socrates used a method called dialectic to seek out a common truth. This is a progression of questions and answers Austin Schwartz Assignment #2 through conversation in order to gain adequate opinions on subjects. In the dialogue Meno, we see Socrates asking a question searching for the meaning of excellence. “Then let’s leave him out of it; he’s not here, after all. But in the name of the gods, Meno, please do tell me in your own words what you think excellence is.” (Meno 71d) As we can see, Socrates uses methods such as this in order to rule out inadequate opinions. If there are inadequate opinions, there must be an opinion that rules over all. An opinion that rules over all is the complete opposite of what Sophists believe in. The dialectic method shows that there are views that are incorrect. The Sophists claim that custom is the “king …show more content…
Although Socrates did not claim to “know” anything outside of human excellence, it is evident that he did not agree. This is because Socrates discards views that are illogical. The viewpoint of the Sophists is described as, “Of all things the measure is man: of existing things, that they exist; of non-existing things, that they do not exist.” (DK 80 B 1, IEGP, 245) Sophists believe there is no standard we are to live by, it is only decided by ourselves. As we can see through history of Athens, this was the case. By looking back we can see how corrupt they were. A simple refutation to relativism would look like this. Person A says, “There is no absolutes, only the measure of a man.” Person B could simply refute by saying, “Is saying there are no absolutes and absolute statement?” It is easy to catch their illogical argument as the world operates with physis and nomos. Things are as they are by