2007-09-02 23:34:51 · 12 answers · asked by helene d 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
while having knowledge and teaching many subjects, a sophist focuses on rhetoric, and rather then seeking knowledge, seeks to find reasons and plausible explanations to create an argument for anything, such as black is white etc,
2007-09-02 23:48:07 · answer #1 · answered by dlin333 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sophists where at their height in Socratic and pre-Socratic eras. They were mostly concerned with persuasion, and often were motivated by money. A philosopher does not argue to be persuasive, changing a person's mind is merely a by product of a good argument for a philosopher. Also it is important not to confuse a sophist with a solipsist, who would think they can know nothing outside their own existence.
2007-09-03 00:15:07 · answer #2 · answered by spartanmike 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A sophists like to sound as if he knows something. A philosopher is someone "who knows that he does not know anything." The sophists were the subject of Socrates's criticism when he demonstrated that sophists knew nothing but didn't know that they knew something. For this reason Socrates was killed.
2007-09-03 01:28:04 · answer #3 · answered by ragdefender 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A sophist tries to give answers about things he does not know while a philosopher questions the very things that he "knows".
[EDIT] A sophist would try to answer a question he knows something about while a philosopher would try to question an answer everybody thinks everybody knows.
2007-09-02 23:54:54 · answer #4 · answered by Aken 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sophia, in Greek, means wisdom.
Sophists would mean the wise people.
Philos, in Greek, means love.
Philosophers would mean those who love wisdom.
There is a huge difference between claiming to be wise and claiming to be a lover of wisdom. Those who claim to know don't even know that they don't know. They have closed their minds, and no new information can enter their minds. But those who claim to be a lover of wisdom admit that they do not know, and they are willing to know. Ther minds are open to new information.
Socrates knew this difference, and he is the one, I believe, called himself a philosopher for the first time to distinguish himself from the sophists.
2007-09-05 12:30:19 · answer #5 · answered by John 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In Socrates time, Sophists were often "hired guns" who trained themselves and others to win arguments by rhetorical means. They focused on winning debates, defending ideas whether true or false. Truth and Wisdom and other such ideal concepts were sacrificed for pay and profit. Many liken many of the lawyers of today as their philosophical descendants. I would add Post Modernists and other kinds of cynical Nihilists to the list.
In a nutshell, sophists use reason to win arguments, fame and fortune, but philosophers use reason to uncover ultimate Truths , become wise in the process, and help others to become wise.
see encyclopedia entry on who the first Sophists were : http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Sophists;_ylt=AinYauI_bB9Z6ax4pFka3BlTt8wF
2007-09-03 06:51:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The philosopher seeks wisdom, and therefore accepts humility as a way of life. The sophist seeks to appear to be right and will say or do anything as long as it maintains this appearance.
2007-09-03 00:47:16 · answer #7 · answered by Timaeus 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A philosopher uses words to play with ideas, a sophist plays with the words themselves.
2007-09-02 23:59:06 · answer #8 · answered by shades of Bruno 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I guess you could say Sophists are like televangelists. Philosophers are deep thinkers who question everything that always lead to new ideas.
2007-09-03 12:37:22 · answer #9 · answered by mirroreyes9 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
what is difference between a Toyota and a car? a sophist is one type of philosopher.
2007-09-02 23:44:49 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋