Devil’s advocate — Rise of the modern Sophist!

Ashutosh Jain·FollowPublished inThoughts And Ideas·6 min read·Mar 18, 2018--Sophism is dead! Long live Sophism!!The original Sophists may have lived in 5th century BCE but it will be a great mistake to suppose that Sophism is dead. On the contrary, today, the popular modern culture reeks with the ideas of the Sophists, more than ever.In 5th century Greek-speaking world, particularly at Athens, Sophists were travelling intellectuals who taught ‘Arête’ (excellence or virtue) to anyone who could pay the right fee. They were not a school of philosophers and they did not invent or follow any system of philosophy but they excelled in the art of logical argument : ‘Dialectic’ and the art of persuasive speaking : ‘Rhetoric’.The Sophists were splendid orators, public speakers and mouths for hire! Completely ignorant of any morality or ethics, these charismatic men dazzled everyone with their clever reasoning but usually fallacious arguments. They earned reputations as the crowd pullers who coul...