Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Sophist
1.
One of a class of men who taught eloquence, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece; especially, one of those who, by their fallacious but plausible reasoning, puzzled inquirers after truth, weakened the faith of the people, and drew upon themselves general hatred and contempt.
Many of the
Sophists
doubdtless card not for truth or morality, and merely professed to teach how to make the worse appear the better reason; but there scems no reason to hold that they were a special class, teaching special opinions; even Socrates and Plato were sometimes styled Sophists
. Liddell & Scott.
2.
Hence, an impostor in argument; a captious or fallacious reasoner.
Webster 1828 Edition
Sophist
SOPH'IST
,Noun.
1.
A professor of philosophy; as the sophists of Greece.2.
A captious or fallacious reasoner.Definition 2024
sophist
sophist
English
Noun
sophist (plural sophists)
- One of a class of teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece.
- (loosely) A teacher who used plausible but fallacious reasoning.
- (loosely, by extension) One who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument.
Usage notes
- The meaning of "sophist" can vary depending on the time period to which one is referring. A sophist of the earliest period was a master in his art or craft who demonstrated (taught by example) his practical skill/learning in exchange for pay. Later sophists were providers of a well-rounded education intended to give pupils arete – "virtue, human excellence". By late antiquity, sophistḗs / sophistes tended to denote exclusively a skilled public speaker and/or teacher of rhetoric.[1][2]
Synonyms
- (one who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument): logic chopper
Related terms
Translations
ancient teacher of rhetoric, etc.
one who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument
References
- ↑ Dictionary of Philosophy, Dagobert D. Runes (ed.), Philosophical Library, 1962. See: "Sophists" by Max Fishler, p. 295.
- ↑ "History of the name ‘Sophist’," Encyclopedia Britannica at www.britannica.com.