Socrates and Sophist

A detailed Summary of Socrates and Sophist


Plato's Sophist is one of the only dialogues in which Socrates isn't the main character. This makes for an interesting question: why? Why would Plato stray from the norm of making his teacher the main focus of this dialogue? As I've thought about this I've come up with three possible explanations that may explain Plato's decision. It is impossible to come up with a definitive answer, but using my skills as an English major I hope to shed some light on the subject.

My first thought was that perhaps Plato thought that Socrates wouldn't agree with the argument being made in Sophist, this means that Socrates wouldn't admit to the possibility of false knowledge. I find this possibility hard to believe since Socrates was around and encountered people who made their living by arguing for others. Also, this theory doesn't explain why he would be encouraging the visitor to make the argument in the first place.

Another issue with this first theory is the fact that Plato has pretty much always agreed with Socrates' teachings before this dialogue, why would he start to contradict him here? I have no answer to that question, but it seems a little absurd to me. It would also make more sense for h


I think that this, my final, theory is the most plausible of them all, it seems to explain most clearly why Socrates isn't in the picture and why a visitor is. However, it is hard to make literary assumptions based in the knowledge of the 20th century and apply them to an ancient Greek work. Of course, we do the same thing with Greek drama, so maybe it isn't such a stretch. I don't think anyone will ever really know why Plato chose to stray from Socrates in Sophist, but making guesses is somehow more intriguing.

Perhaps the fact that Plato uses this average character to support the weight of the argument in Sophist implies something about the argument itself. I am inclined to say that Plato uses the everyman character to show that just about every man could make this argument for the existence of the Sophist. Moreover, Plato then wouldn't need Socrates to aid in the development of the argument. This also shows Plato's disrespect for anyone who is a sophist. The fact that anyone can prove that they exist, from the argument of false knowledge, shows how worthless Plato thinks the sophists are.

My third theory about Sophist comes from the use of what I learned in Literary Theory. Not only is Socrates playing a bit part in this dialogue, there is a total stranger playing the main ro

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Approximate Word count = 879
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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