wise man
Latin sophista, from Greek sophistēs, literally, expert, wise man, from sophizesthai to become wise, deceive, from sophos clever, wise.

Sophist has the accent on the first syllable: “SAW fist.” It comes from the Greek word sophizesthai, meaning “to become wise or learned, deceive.” In fact, deceit was just part of the job for the ancient Greek philosophers called Sophists.

They were secular atheists, relativists and cynical about religious beliefs and all traditions. They believed and taught that “might makes right”. They were pragmatists trusting in whatever works to bring about the desired end at whatever the cost.

W. K. C. Guthrie classified Socrates as a sophist in his History of Greek Philosophy. Before Plato, the word “sophist” could be used as either a respectful or contemptuous title. It was in Plato’s dialogue, Sophist, that the first record of an attempt to answer the question “what is a sophist?” is made.

Arguing that ‘man is the measure of all things’, the Sophists were skeptical about the existence of the gods and taught a variety of subjects, including mathematics, grammar, physics, political philosophy, ancient history, music, and astronomy.

Sophistry Has Roots in Greek Philosophy Thus sophist (which comes from Greek sophistēs, meaning “wise man” or “expert”) earned a negative connotation as “a captious or fallacious reasoner.” Sophistry is reasoning that seems plausible on a superficial level but is actually unsound, or reasoning that is used to deceive.

“specious but fallacious reasoning,” mid-14c., from Old French sophistrie (Modern French sophisterie), from Medieval Latin sophistria, from Latin sophista, sophistes (see sophist). “Sophistry applies to reasoning as sophism to a single argument” [Century Dictionary].

Socrates and Plato would criticize the Sophists for leading people away from the truth by calling up memorized passages and having the memory activated instead of reason. Both Socrates and Plato would find much of value in the speculative thought processes of those who took up another set of questions entirely.

The most famous representatives of the sophistic movement are Protagoras, Gorgias, Antiphon, Hippias, Prodicus and Thrasymachus. Plato and Aristotle nonetheless established their view of what constitutes legitimate philosophy in part by distinguishing their own activity – and that of Socrates – from the sophists.

The difference between Socrates and the Sophists is that Socrates believed that universal standards existed to guide individuals in matters such as justice and beauty, while the Sophists believed that it was powerful people’s job to determine these points of knowledge themselves.

sophist (n.) “one who makes use of fallacious arguments,” mid-15c., earlier sophister (late 14c.), from Latin sophista, sophistes, from Greek sophistes “a master of one’s craft; a wise or prudent man, one clever in matters of daily life,” from sophizesthai “to become wise or learned,” from sophos “skilled in a handicraft, cunning in one’s craft;

Their attitude, coupled with the wealth garnered by many of the sophists, eventually led to popular resentment against sophist practitioners and the ideas and writings associated with sophism. Protagoras is generally regarded as the first of the sophists.

Their philosophy contains criticism of religion, law, and ethics. Though many sophists were apparently as religious as their contemporaries, some held atheistic or agnostic views (for example, Protagoras and Diagoras of Melos).

The Sophists. First published Fri Sep 30, 2011; substantive revision Wed Sep 9, 2015. The Greek word sophistēs, formed from the noun sophia, ‘wisdom’ or ‘learning’, has the general sense ‘one who exercises wisdom or learning’.