Editing Sophist (section)

==History==
In the second half of the 5th century BCE, particularly in [[Athens]], "sophist" came to denote a class of mostly itinerant intellectuals who taught courses in various subjects, speculated about the nature of language and culture, and employed [[rhetoric]] to achieve their purposes, generally to persuade or convince others. Nicholas Denyer observes that the Sophists "did ... have one important thing in common: whatever else they did or did not claim to know, they characteristically had a great understanding of what words would entertain or impress or persuade an audience."<ref name=Plato2008>Denyer, N., ''[https://archive.org/details/cam-classics/Nicholas%20Denyer%20-%20Plato.%20Protagoras%20%28Cambridge%20Greek%20and%20Latin%20Classics%29%20%282008%29/page/1/mode/2up Plato, Protagoras: Introduction]'', p. 1, Cambridge University Press, 2008</ref> Sophists went to Athens to teach because the city was flourishing at the time. It was good employment for those good at debate, which was a speciality of the first sophists, and they received the fame and fortune they were seeking. [[Protagoras]] is generally regarded as the first of these professional sophists. Others include [[Gorgias]], [[Prodicus]], [[Hippias]], [[Thrasymachus]], [[Lycophron (sophist)|Lycophron]], [[Callicles]], [[Antiphon (person)|Antiphon]], and [[Cratylus]]. A few sophists claimed that they could find the answers to all questions. Most of these sophists are known today primarily through the writings of their opponents (particularly [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]]), which makes it difficult to assemble an unbiased view of their practices and teachings. In some cases, such as Gorgias, original rhetorical works are extant, allowing the author to be judged on his own terms, but in most cases, knowledge about what individual sophists wrote or said comes from fragmentary quotations that lack context and are usually hostile.

The Greeks were "experimenting with a new form of government, democracy" (W. Keith, 5). Therefore, they were navigating how to make decisions without a higher authority. They needed to create laws based on demand and popular vote of the people. Back in the fifth century they did not have mass media, printing presses, and barely any texts. They mostly relied on speech. This meant that "the Athenians needed a strategy for effectively talking to other people in juries, in forums, and in the senate" (W. Keith, 5). This is when the sophist began to come about. Originally known as Sicilians, they began to teach Athenians how to speak in a persuasive manner in order to work with the courts and senate. It is not really known how these Sicilians, who came to be Sophists, initially grew an interest to teach others how to speak persuasively. However, the interest in receiving training from the Sophists increased. 
(''The Origins of Rhetoric'' Keith & Lundberg)

Sophists could be described both as teachers and [[philosophers]], having travelled about in Greece teaching their students various life skills, particularly rhetoric and public speaking. These were useful qualities of the time, during which persuasive ability had a large influence on one's political power and economic wealth. Athens became the center of the sophists' activity, due to the city's freedom of speech for non-slave citizens and its wealth of resources. The sophists as a group had no set teachings, and they lectured on subjects that were as diverse as [[semantics]] and [[rhetoric]], to [[ontology]], and [[epistemology]]. Most sophists claimed to teach ''arete'' ("excellence" or "virtue") in the management and administration of not only one's affairs, but the city's as well. Before the 5th century BCE, it was believed that aristocratic birth qualified a person for arete and politics. However, Protagoras, who is regarded as the first sophist, argued that arete was the result of training rather than birth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iep.utm.edu/sophists/|title = Sophists &#124; Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2020}}