Page "Sophist" Paragraph 4

In the second half of the 5th century BC, particularly at Athens, " sophist " came to denote a class of mostly itinerant intellectuals who taught courses in various subjects, speculated about the nature of language and culture and employed rhetoric to achieve their purposes, generally to persuade or convince others: " Sophists did, however, have one important thing in common: whatever else they did or did not claim to know, they characteristically had a great understanding of what words would entertain or impress or persuade an audience.

" Protagoras is generally regarded as the first of these professional sophists.

Others include Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias, Thrasymachus, Lycophron, Callicles, Antiphon, and Cratylus.

A few sophists claimed that they could find the answers to all questions.

Most of these sophists are known today primarily through the writings of their opponents ( specifically Plato and Aristotle ), which makes it difficult to assemble an unbiased view of their practices and beliefs.

In some cases, such as Gorgias, there are original rhetorical works that are fortunately extant, allowing the author to be judged on his own terms.

In most cases, however, knowledge about what individual sophists wrote or said comes from fragmentary quotations that lack context.