2020-21 Academic Catalog

In 399 BC Socrates was executed for introducing new gods and corrupting the youth. He claimed these were not the real charges against him--instead the trouble was that the Athenians mistook him for a sophist. 'Sophist' remains a choice term of derision for the pseudo-intellectuals, salesmen, political pundits, and propagandists who populate public life to this day. Traditionally a sophist is marked off not only by their bad ethical character, but also by the content of their ideas--most notably relativism, social constructionism, and realpolitik. The good standing of philosophers seems to depend on their success in distinguishing themselves from both the ideas and the actions of their evil twin, the sophist. In this course we will ask why this effort has seemed so important, and whether it is really possible to define philosophy in a way that excludes sophistry once and for all.