Back to the Sophists

Nana Ariel
Issue 61 | Spring 2025
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In recent years, the analogy linking contemporary populists to the Greek Sophists has become widespread. But does this tempting analogy do the Sophists justice and indeed succeed in explaining the current phenomena of demagogy? The article describes how the image of the Sophists has been adapted to changing interests over the years and suggests a rethinking of their legacy in the context of the fragile democracies of our time. The Sophists, fifth-century BC thinkers and teachers, appeared in Plato’s dialogues as the villains of Greek society – manipulators who swayed the masses with appealing rhetoric, relativists for whom belief was more important than knowledge. This impression has taken root throughout the history of Western thought, positioning the Sophists as a symbol of corruption. But considering the moment of their emergence and tendentious representations may reveal a different image, one of early humanists promoting liberal democratic education. Rather than seeing the Sophists as an absolute corrupting force or idealizing them, the article examines their modern reception and reveals a more complex and even surprising picture: the Sophists resurface in moments of epistemic rupture that require a rethinking of knowledge and power (for example, in Nietzsche’s philosophy and feminist thought), and at times are presented as revolutionary and inspiring agents of change. The casting of the Sophists as villains, from the days of Socrates and up until Donald Trump, has not only obscured their pioneering work but also masked the possibility of seriously examining how competing truths are addressed in an era of truth erosion.

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