Contrast Between Socrates And The Sophists free essay sample

# 8217 ; Style Essay, Research Paper In Gorgias by Plato, Socrates # 8217 ; beloved trade of doctrine comes into struggle with the art of oratory, used by the Sophists Gorgias, Polus, and Callicles. In the resulting treatment, aimed at detecting the true nature and intent of oratory, a crisp contrast in the manner of address used by Socrates and that utilized by the speechmakers comes into position. The two sides employ really distinguishable methods of address, each method back uping the terminal of the talker # 8217 ; s speech.Socrates # 8217 ; method of address is a duologue. He engages in an even exchange between himself and the other participants. He allows for feedback and even defense of his points, every bit good as encourages others to show their ain points. Sophists, nevertheless, use the art of oratory. Oratory is a nonreversible address in which the talker tends to talk to his audience as opposed to talking with his audience. The audience of an speechmaker is simply a group of hearers for the talker to pass on his thoughts to, but when take parting in a treatment with Socrates # 8217 ; one is expected to have and see the thoughts of the talker, every bit good as explicate his ain thoughts and lend feedback to the talker # 8217 ; s thoughts.When Socrates # 8217 ; speaks of a subject, he by and large has cognition of what he speaks. The facts he presents are known by him to be existent true facts. His ultimate intent is to get at the truth through a logical treatment of the known facts that he presents. Conversely, a Sophist need non needfully be informed about the topic he presents to his audience. A Sophist attentions non about the existent ownership of cognition, but alternatively the visual aspect of cognition, and therefore can non accurately talk the truth about the topics of their addresss. This is of small significance to a Sophist, nevertheless, for he has little regard for what is true and wha t is non. The full purpose of a Sophist # 8217 ; s address is to carry the audience to explicate an sentiment in maintaining with the personal involvements of the talker himself. Whereas Socrates # 8217 ; views the proliferation of inaccurate information as the greatest of all immoralities, a Sophist patterns it daily and seeks to stand out at the art of misrepresentation, in order to go better able to win people over with flattery and false facts.Socrates # 8217 ; statements are based on deductive logical thinking. He arrives at valid decisions by first saying general, well-known facts, upon which he bases more comparative facts, and finally forces his opposition to either concede, based on facts he himself has agreed are true, or refute Socrates through the usage of logic and true facts. The tool used by the Sophists in their effort to formalize their statements is inductive concluding. They create wide generalisations based upon ascertained grounds and popular sentiment. This is slightly less concrete than Socrates # 8217 ; method, for his statements lie on a foundation of incontestable facts, while the # 8220 ; facts # 8221 ; presented by the Sophists are true merely because they are normally accepted, though it is surely problematic whether or non they have any existent truth in them.Another point of contrast between Socrates # 8217 ; and the Sophists is that Socrates bases his statements on a realist point of position. He believes that there exists a definite bad and good , right and incorrect. The intent of many of his statements, in fact, are to set up precisely what is good or bad, or right or incorrect. Sophists, nevertheless, follow a more relativist doctrine. They seem to believe that such qualities as bad and good, or right and incorrect exist merely in man’s reading of such things and there is no existent definition of such footings. Socrates # 8217 ; manner of address is good to him in that it aids him in his pursuit to find the truth. His logical, factual foundation helps construct up to a logical, fact-based decision. Although he is non peculiarly crafty in the art of oratory, he has no desire to carry people to any sentiment other than that of the truth. Similarly, yet oppositely, the Sophists excel at the art of oratory, which is good to them in that it allows them to better carry people and therefore it makes them more capable in the art they pattern, though Socrates # 8217 ; sentiment of how helpful this is to the Sophists is rather different. He believes that even if a Sophist is able to carry any individual he likes, his art is still non good to him. In fact, Socrates goes every bit far as to state that, merely like a autocrat, the speechmaker of a town has the least sum of power ( 466b ) . His footing for such a theory is that since both the speechmaker and the autocrat are uninformed on the subject a bout which they speak, they can non do informed determinations and hence, they do non what is needfully what is good for them and therefore what they want, but merely what they see fit at the clip. As Polus seemed to bespeak, the speechmaker # 8217 ; s doctrine is one of pure hedonism. Instantaneous pleasance is the end of their every action.There are certain incompatibilities in both parties # 8217 ; manner of address, nevertheless. In Socrates # 8217 ; instance, for illustration, it was antecedently stated the Socrates # 8217 ; utilised deductive logical thinking as opposed to inductive logical thinking, whose decisions were less house, yet Socrates # 8217 ; at times makes usage of inductive logical thinking. In fact, the many of the most basic facts upon which he bases his statements are, of necessity, true merely because adult male has defined them as such, or because it is in maintaining with what is by and large believed by the bulk of people, but has neer been or can non be scientifically proved. For case, there is no scientific manner to turn out that something is the colour yellow, at some point it simply comes down to the fact that something is the colour yellow merely because that is what adult male has defined it as. Socrates # 8217 ; definitions as things such felicity as good, while non needfully untrue, are impossible to turn out. Happiness is different things to different people and though Socrates # 8217 ; opts to believe in a popular reading of the word, he has no factual footing for his claims.Obviously, there are many struggles in manner of address between Socrates and the Sophists, but despite these legion differences, each of their methods is good tailored to their intent and serves to back up and even magnify the points that the talker puts away. Each manner surely has its benefits every bit good as drawbacks, yet it is hard to judge which is more effectual, as each has its ain different end in head and each fulfills its terminal rather efficaciously when in the custodies of a gifted talker.