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sophist

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English

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin sophista, also sophistes, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek σοφιστής (sophistḗs, “pursuer of wisdom”), from σοφίζομαι (sophízomai, “to become wise”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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sophist (plural sophists)

  1. One of a class of teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece.
  2. (figurative) A teacher who uses plausible but fallacious reasoning.
  3. (figurative, by extension) One who is captious, fallacious, or deceptive in argument.
    Synonym: logic chopper
    • 1699, Richard Bentley, “The Preface”, in A Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris. With an Answer to the Objections of the Honourable Charles Boyle, Esquire, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for Henry Mortlock […], and John Hartley […], →OCLC, page iii:
      [T]hey have acted in this Calumny both the injuſtice of the Tyrant, and the forgery of the Sophiſt.
  4. (dated) Alternative form of sophister (“university student who has completed at least one year”)

Usage notes

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  • 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]
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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Dictionary of Philosophy, Dagobert D. Runes (ed.), Philosophical Library, 1962. See: "Sophists" by Max Fishler, p. 295.
  2. ^ "History of the name ‘Sophist’," Encyclopedia Britannica at www.britannica.com.
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