The Sophists

And why my blog is named after them

Ancient Athens was a melting pot of ideas, and the Sophists played an important role in shaping the intellectual culture despite being viewed as morally corrupting. Socrates himself was accused of being a Sophist. Image: Socrates’ Address, by Louis Joseph Lebrun, 1867 (Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons).

Like “cynic”, “sophist” is a word with ancient roots and a pejorative modern meaning.

In fact, most ancient philosophies have a modern meaning that contradicts the original meaning. “Skeptic” doesn’t mean “to not believe”, it means “to enquire”, that is, “test your beliefs and non-beliefs” — something we should all do a lot more. “Stoic” doesn’t mean…