The Snarkiest Sophist of Them All

I’m going to pose a theory that is probably going to cause some controversy, if anyone reads my post that is! I believe that, in some ways, Socrates is the biggest, and snarkiest, Sophist of them all. I’m not the only one; some of the people in my Classical Philosophy class believe the same thing. Socrates wasn’t a Sophist in the conventional way; he didn’t charge people money to talk with them. In fact, he tried to discourage people from following him; he didn’t try very hard though. If he had really wanted to keep people from following him, he would have been able to get them to stop.

In the Apology, Socrates claims that he’s not going to be speaking like a Sophist would speak, with rhetoric. Yet, everything he says, and the way he says it, is full of rhetoric. Granted, Socrates does tell the truth, but he always tells the truth when it best suits him. During his trial, his persuasion is not for proving his innocence but to convince them that he needs to be killed. He never comes right out and says that he should be killed, but he is leading the jury in that direction for sure.

Socrates' use of rhetoric seems less like rhetoric than most people’s because it is so straightforward and generally snarky. But because he does know how to use rhetoric he is unable to not use rhetoric. It is a part of his speech whether he likes it or not. But it is his use of rhetoric that leads him to finding the answers to the great questions he asks. Actually, scratch that, sort of, he never actually comes to any conclusion about any of the questions he asks; at least not in a way I can understand. Unlike the Sophists however, who teach just to make money and hear themselves talk, Socrates truly does wish to answer these questions. He truly does want to know what “good” truly is, or “justice,” or “virtue.” I think, that it is because Socrates is truly the biggest Sophist of them all, that he is able to find the answers he is seeking.

Until next time my good friends!!

Tantum e tenebris receptum constabit (Only what is won from the darkness will stand)

~Meghan

PS. I commented on Tinsley’s “What is Truth Anyway?”

PPS. How cool was it to listen to the process that went into the making of our motto? I loved hearing how Dr. Clapp searched so many texts to find the words that really did fit the motto of Honors. I also found it cool that it was the class above me that came up with the motto, I didn’t realize it was that young!