Did the sophists deserve their bad reputation Essay

Did the sophists deserve their bad disposition - Essay ExamplePlato himself seemed to hold them in low esteem. Aristotle denigrated them for their lack of absorb in pure knowledge. Later, self-professed Sophists seemed to pervert the basic tenets of the movement for personal gain. Beca usage these itinerate teachers made money off what many perceived as deception and devaluation, the Sophists reputation has been viewed with distrust and scorn. Even today, their full contri simplyion is not understood.The question is, Did the Sophists deserve their bad reputation The answer lies in the examination of several playing fields. First, the emergence of the Sophists exist the status quo and the reigning aristocracy. Because the word itself means clever, people were instantly suspicious of someone who might be too tricky or too smart, specially the wealthy and ruling classes. Because they were teachers that received fees for their educational services, the traditional Greeks were afraid that the lessons taught might conflict with their definition of virtuous and necessary education.They did, in a way. The idea of teach virtue, for money, incensed the people of the time. They felt that the education of young men to be of wise judgment and upstanding char chiper should be left to the church, not to change of location teachers who expected to be paid Already the occupations of these mysterious travelers cause suspicion and anger among the people who had become very stable in their beliefs.Another area of teaching that ... Yet, the Sophists also claimed to be great rhetoricians with a flair for disagreeing with current thought and encouraging cynicism in others. While the rhetoric of the senators had always been in musical accompaniment what is right and virtuous for individuals and societies, the Sophists were implying that rhetoric could be employed for any purpose, even those that were antithetical to common belief.. People were highly disturbed to realize that someone could use rhetoric to convince them of something untrue. After all, the Sophists were gaining a following of young men who were drawn to their ideas. Basically, the Sophists forced the question What is right into the wide open public sphere. rather of just accepting that right and virtue are always obvious and will always prevail, people could not avoid the new interpretations offered by the Sophists. Those that stood the most(prenominal) to lose, the wealthy and powerful, cried out against the heresy, but those that had little to lose could afford to listen with interest. The revolutionary new teachings spanned education, religion, politics and ethics, challenging the established beliefs held for centuries. This belief purported that people act in certain ways because that is how they ought to act. This prescribed action was based upon the will of the god or gods, or upon some other moral order. People broadly speaking believed that these moral tenets were a fixed and un changing part of nature itself. The Sophists interjected that morals and ethics were not fixed by nature at all but were a dynamic part of society codes of behaviors changed by the views of society. This conventionality meant that some people, some societies, might believe