The Sophists

M. Bonazzi

Research output: Book/ReportBookAcademic

Abstract

The Sophists have been often attacked by a authoritative tradition, from Socrates and Plato onwards, as mere charlatans and bad teachers. This book challenges this criticisms by offering an overall interpretation of their thought, and by assessing the specific contributions of thinkers like Protagoras, Gorgias and Antiphon. In fact, the Sophists were the protagonists of dramatic and fundamental changes in the history of Ancient Philosophy, by questioning the bases of morality and politics, and the nature of knowledge and language. They shifted the focus of philosophical attention from the cosmos to man, and in so doing they inaugurated an alternative form of philosophy, whose importance only recently is becoming clear.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationCambridge
PublisherCambridge University Press
Number of pages156
ISBN (Electronic)2052-8531
ISBN (Print)0533-2451
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Publication series

NameNew Surveys in the Classics
PublisherCambridge University Press
Volume45
ISSN (Print)0533-2451
ISSN (Electronic)2052-8531

Keywords

  • sophists
  • Protagoras
  • Gorgias
  • Greek political thought

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