PREMIUM: Symposium #12 | Sophists and Sophistry

Largely due to Plato’s influence, the terms ‘sophism’, ‘sophist’, and ‘sophistry’ have negative connotations. In this episode of the symposium, we discuss the material and intellectual developments that led to the manifestation of the sophists, Protagoras of Abdera, as well as Plato’s main criticism of the sophists and his allegory of the cave. We end the discussion by examining particular fallacious arguments and other techniques that individual sophists may use to prevent their audience from adopting positions that are not to the sophist’s interest.

• Further Reading

  • The Sophists - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

  • Protagoras- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

  • Plato: The Allegory of the Cave- Republic: VII