a VERY boring post
Really…don’t read this. It is written for my satisfaction and mine alone. You have been warned.
It has been brought to my attention from joyce’s blog that several people are unclear about the etymology of the word “sophist”, which I had the pleasure of learning from Hartley in Ancient History last year. As I am very much interested in that word (not the people who practice sophistry in the modern sense) I shall attempt to clear shit up. Even dictionary.com (one of my favourite sites) seems to have a weak sense of history when identifying the origin of the word.
Since the days of Nestor and Odysseus, the art of persuasive speech had been held in great esteem by the Greeks. This was perhaps best demonstrated in introduction of a new class of names, which reflected excellence in addressing public assemblies e.g Pythagoras, Anaxagoras.
Time passed, and in the atmosphere of critical inquiry and scepticism that followed, Greece had to provide for the higher education of their youth, which the practical considerations of the democracy demanded.
This demand was met by teachers who traveled and taught arts such as speaking, reasoning etc and received remuneration for their services. These people were called Sophists. Properly a Sophist is someone who is eminently proficient in a particular art – say cookery or poetry.
The name acquired a slightly unfavourable colour due (primarily) to 3 reasons.
1.the distrust felt by the masses toward men who knew too much
2.the prejudice which in Hellas always existed against those who gave their services for pay (wtf rite)
3.the jealousy of those who were too impoverished to pay Sophists and hence were disadvantaged in public life compared to those trained by Sophists
But the pall of contempt which clung onto the sophistic profession did not imply that they were imposters, seeking to hoodwink the public by arguments which were fallacious. That suggestion- which has determined the contemporary meaning of the word- was first made by Plato and is entirely unhistorical. This meaning thus represents a form of historical revisionism, one which has obscured the origin and meaning of word in the Greek and strict sense.
xie xie. i feel much better now.
It has been brought to my attention from joyce’s blog that several people are unclear about the etymology of the word “sophist”, which I had the pleasure of learning from Hartley in Ancient History last year. As I am very much interested in that word (not the people who practice sophistry in the modern sense) I shall attempt to clear shit up. Even dictionary.com (one of my favourite sites) seems to have a weak sense of history when identifying the origin of the word.
Since the days of Nestor and Odysseus, the art of persuasive speech had been held in great esteem by the Greeks. This was perhaps best demonstrated in introduction of a new class of names, which reflected excellence in addressing public assemblies e.g Pythagoras, Anaxagoras.
Time passed, and in the atmosphere of critical inquiry and scepticism that followed, Greece had to provide for the higher education of their youth, which the practical considerations of the democracy demanded.
This demand was met by teachers who traveled and taught arts such as speaking, reasoning etc and received remuneration for their services. These people were called Sophists. Properly a Sophist is someone who is eminently proficient in a particular art – say cookery or poetry.
The name acquired a slightly unfavourable colour due (primarily) to 3 reasons.
1.the distrust felt by the masses toward men who knew too much
2.the prejudice which in Hellas always existed against those who gave their services for pay (wtf rite)
3.the jealousy of those who were too impoverished to pay Sophists and hence were disadvantaged in public life compared to those trained by Sophists
But the pall of contempt which clung onto the sophistic profession did not imply that they were imposters, seeking to hoodwink the public by arguments which were fallacious. That suggestion- which has determined the contemporary meaning of the word- was first made by Plato and is entirely unhistorical. This meaning thus represents a form of historical revisionism, one which has obscured the origin and meaning of word in the Greek and strict sense.
xie xie. i feel much better now.
2 Comments:
yes THANK YOU.......
sigh.. i have stupid comments from people who still ask me why do i call myself a sophist and say i'm very egoistical. MY GODDDDDDDDDD and to think i actually pasted the ENTIRE DEFINITION OF A SOPHIST for them to see!!!!!
ARGHHHHHHHHHHH STUPID STUPID STUPID PEOPLE!!! see??? this is why sometimes i feel so intellectually superior. THEY ARE SOOOOOOO STUPID~!!!!!!!!! give me another word for "stupid" you walking thesaurus yannie yan yan yanster. haha sighhhh muackz.. loveya
er..."nick" shld suffice :)
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