Read complete books and articles on: Sophists

Sophists - sŏfˈĭsts, originally, itinerant teachers in Greece (5th cent. b.c.) who provided education through lectures and in return received fees from their audiences. The term was given as a mark of respect. Protagoras was perhaps the first to style himself a Sophist and to receive payment for his instruction. He and Gorgias were respected thinkers, but others after them

13 of the Best Books and Articles on: Sophists

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists » Read Now
by Robin Waterfield. 354 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, History, Entire Library

The first philosophers paved the way for the work of Plato and Aristotle - and hence for the whole of Western thought. Aristotle said that philosophy begins with wonder, and the first Western philosophers developed theories of the world which express simultaneously their sense of wonder and their...
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The first philosophers paved the way for the work of Plato and Aristotle - and hence for the whole of Western thought. Aristotle said that philosophy begins with wonder, and the first Western philosophers developed theories of the world which express simultaneously their sense of wonder and their intuition that the world should be comprehensible. But their enterprise was by no means limited to this proto-scientific task. Through, for instance, Heraclitus' enigmatic sayings, the poetry of Parmenides and Empedocles, and Zeno's paradoxes, the Western world was introduced to metaphysics, rationalist theology, ethics, and logic, by thinkers who often seem to be mystics or shamans as much as philosophers or scientists in the modern mould. And out of the Sophists' reflections on human beings and their place in the world arose and interest in language, and in political, moral, and social philosophy. This volume contains a translation of all the most important fragments of the Presocratics and Sophists, and of the most informative testimonia from ancient sources, supplemented by lucid commentary.
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2.

Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured » Read Now
by Susan C. Jarratt. 155 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
3.

Lectures on the History of Philosophy (Vol. 1) (includes "The Sophists") » Read Now
by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, E. S. Haldane. 490 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831), the influential German philosopher, believed that human history was advancing spiritually and morally according to God's purpose.
4.

Plato's Reception of Parmenides » Read Now
by John A. Palmer. 294 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

John Palmer presents a new and original account of Plato's uses and understanding of his most important Presocratic predecessor, Parmenides. Adopting an innovative approach to the appraisal of intellectual influence, Palmer first explores the Eleatic underpinnings of central elements in Plato's...
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John Palmer presents a new and original account of Plato's uses and understanding of his most important Presocratic predecessor, Parmenides. Adopting an innovative approach to the appraisal of intellectual influence, Palmer first explores the Eleatic underpinnings of central elements in Plato's middle-period epistemology and metaphysics. He then shows how in the later dialogues Plato confronts various sophistic appropriations of Parmenides while simultaneously developing his own deepened understanding. Along the way Palmer gives fresh readings of Parmenides' poem in the light of the Platonic reception, and discusses Plato's view of Parmenides' relation to such key figures as Xenophanes, Zeno, and Gorgias. By tracing connections among the uses of Parmenides over the course of several dialogues, Palmer both demonstrates his fundamental importance to the development of Plato's thought and furthers understanding of central problems in Plato's own philosophy.
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5.

Protagoras » Read Now
by Plato. 98 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Plato showed up the leading sophist, Protagoras in this dialogue that broadens out into a consideration of the nature of what constitutes the nature of the good life.
6.

The Phaedrus, Lysis, and Protagoras of Plato: A New and Literal Translation Mainly from the Text of Bekker » Read Now
by J. Wright. 272 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
7.

Greek Philosophy before Plato » Read Now
by Robert Scoon. 353 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
8.

History of Ancient Philosophy (includes "The Greek Enlightment - The Sophists and Socrates") » Read Now
by W. Windelband, Herbert Ernest Cushman. 400 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
9.

Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured » Read Now
by Susan C. Jarratt. 155 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
10.

Myth and Philosophy from the Presocratics to Plato (Chap. 4 "The Sophists and Their Contemporaries") » Read Now
by Kathryn A. Morgan. 313 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

This book explores the complex relationship between myth and philosophy in writings by Greek intellectuals between the late-sixth and mid-fourth centuries BC. Although philosophy may seem far removed from mythological stories, closer examination reveals that Plato and others realized that...
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This book explores the complex relationship between myth and philosophy in writings by Greek intellectuals between the late-sixth and mid-fourth centuries BC. Although philosophy may seem far removed from mythological stories, closer examination reveals that Plato and others realized that philosophic accounts too were "stories" about reality. Kathryn Morgan shows how these philosophers used myth to express philosophic problems. Her book traces a tradition of strictly rational and philosophical myth through two centuries.
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11.

The Presocratic Philosophers (Chap. 21 "The Sophists") » Read Now
by Jonathan Barnes. 704 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

The Presocratics were the founding fathers of the Western philosophical tradition, and the first masters of rational thought. This volume provides a comprehensive and precise exposition of their arguments, and offers a rigorous assessment of their contribution to philosophical thought.
12.

The Greek Philosophers: From Thales to Aristotle (Chap. 4 "The Reaction Towards Humanism (The Sophists and Socrates)") » Read Now
by W. K. C. Guthrie. 168 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
13.

Presocratic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Chap. 7 "Spin Doctors of the 5th Century") » Read Now
by Catherine Osborne. 144 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Generations of philosophers, both ancient and modern, have traced their inspiration back to the Presocratics. Part of the fascination stems from the fact that little of what they wrote survives. Here Osborne invites her readers to dip their toes into the fragmentary remains of thinkers from Thales...
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Generations of philosophers, both ancient and modern, have traced their inspiration back to the Presocratics. Part of the fascination stems from the fact that little of what they wrote survives. Here Osborne invites her readers to dip their toes into the fragmentary remains of thinkers from Thales to Pythagoras, Heraclitus to Protagoras, and to try to reconstruct the moves that they were making, to support stories that Western philosophers and historians of philosophy like to tell about their past. This book covers the invention of western philosophy: introducing to us the first thinkers to explore ideas about the nature of reality, time, and the origin of the universe.
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