Plato’s whole Doctrine of Ideas was founded on his ethics, politics, and humanity as a Greek philosopher. Plato believed that Sophistry was harmful, so his primary concern was that its rhetorical techniques, debate strategy, and social standing would eventually cause the cultures and communities to disintegrate. Sophistry and the Sophist frequently lacked objective criteria regarding society and culture. More importantly, it is a foundational framework for the morality of their discourse and the culture’s rules. The Sophists’ writings and speeches effectively made their points despite being full of hollow rhetoric and good-sounding but meaningless arguments in linguistics (Waterman Lecture and Roochnik 101-104). (Waterman Lecture and Roochnik 101-104).
Plato postulated that the essence of Sophistry was its intrinsic capacity for practical language usage, particularly when attempting to convince or influence others. According to him, Sophists practice using extensive and complicated language (Balla, 2018). one haughty sound uses arrogant, pompous, persuasive language. Exacerbates the inherent need for money gain and physical satisfaction that conscience and emotional and self-fulfilling people have. Plato criticized the Sophists for attempting to influence the populace and succeeding by abusing Doxa, among other things (public opinion).
Roochnik asserts that several of Plato’s dialogues, such as the Protagoras lesson five disagreement, had protracted, merciless discussions about the interlocutors who are or have been influenced by Socrates and their Sophomoric manipulation (101). (Roochnik, 1992, 101, 76–77) According to Roochnik (104), Plato and Socrates both said that “a key argument against sophistry is that it emphasizes the impossibility of mistake.” It is vital to acknowledge that some men are more innovative than others and that such a knowledgeable man is a measure, but it is in no way required for him, that he is ignorant, to become a measure. It mainly refutes the Sophistic concept that the “human person is the measure of all things.” In (179b) Plato, Socrates believed that rhetoric (the art of persuasion) usually deceives and is not driven by justice or the truth.
Plato believed that rhetoric (the art of persuasion) usually deceives and is not driven by justice or the truth. A notable Greek philosopher is Socrates; the philosophers of Socrates’ day are the Sophists. Philosophically, Socrates was always seen setting himself apart from the Sophists. A sophist is someone intelligent himself, and a philosopher is generally considered to be someone who loves wisdom. Sophistry is the skill of linguistically manipulating facts, while philosophy is searching for actual knowledge (Balla, 2018). The critical difference between Socrates and the Sophists begins at this point. However, finding this distinction is a complicated and convoluted process. Although Plato and the Sophists appear to have similar goals, there is a difference in the strategy used to achieve them.
Plato posed three questions that serve as the foundation for his critique of the sophists. He begins by challenging the definition of rhetoric; second, he claims that rhetoric was not grounded in knowledge, so it misled society. Third, according to Plato, the sophists’ persuasive arguments destroyed society’s values. Plato saw that the sophists were not employing philosophy to answer these issues but rather a rhetorical strategy. As a result, they could not present a true and accurate picture of justice. The Sophists, for instance, taught about “Doxa,” or public opinion. It is important to remember that Doxa is founded on persuasion. The sophists did not seek justice; their goal was to persuade. The sophists also neglected to use episteme or genuine knowledge. They wanted to influence their students depending on what the general public thought. They jeopardized law and justice by failing to find the epistemic truth. It could be argued that one cannot administer justice through public opinion. Instead, justice must be delivered with knowledge.
Humans inherently crave financial gain and physical fulfillment, which is made worse through the use of smug, arrogant language that is convincing. Plato’s criticism of the Sophists included claims that they sought to persuade the people and succeeded in doing so via their exploitation of Doxa (public opinion). According to Roochnik, many of Plato’s dialogues, such as the Protagoras Lesson 5 argument, included protracted, persistent discussions over the interlocutors who are or have been influenced by Socrates and their Sophistic manipulation (101). (Roochnik 92, 101, 76–79).
In conclusion, Plato understood the enormous gulf between the Philosophers and the Sophists, or perhaps he understood the need for rules and an agreement to play by the authorities. He may have realized the potential impact that Sophistry and Sophists might have on people, politicians, lawmakers, culture, and communities. Like Plato, I think sophistic relativism is a potent intellectual “choice” that is just as relevant today as it was between 427 and 347 BC (Roochnik 112-115).
Reference
Balla, C. (2018). Plato and the Sophists on greed and savage humanity. Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought, 35(1), 83–101. Web.