Definition in Greek Philosophy
David Charles (ed.)
Published:
2010
Online ISBN:
9780191721618
Print ISBN:
9780199564453
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Lesley Brown
Pages
151–171
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Published:
August 2010
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Brown, Lesley, 'Definition and Division in Plato's Sophist', in David Charles (ed.), Definition in Greek Philosophy (
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Abstract
This chapter investigates the so-called method of division, purportedly used in the dialogue Sophist to give the essence of the sophist, i.e., of the sophistic art or expertise. The dialogue's enigma is that it offers not one but seven different definitions, all of them satirical or whimsical, and each purporting to be the account of what sophistry is. The chapter rejects readings on which each of these ‘definitions’, or just the final one — the sophist as a producer of images — is meant seriously as an account of what sophistry is. It argues that the initial assumption — that there is a definable expertise (technē) of sophistry — is one Plato can hardly have shared, given his criteria for what counts as a technē. The chapter concludes that in the Sophist Plato shows both how close sophistry and true philosophy are, and also how they differ — all this without intending the reader to assume that the method of division has revealed any essence of sophistry, since there can be no such thing.
Keywords: aporia classification, deception, essence, method of division, sophist, sophistry, taxonomy, techne
Subject
Philosophy of Language Metaphysics Ancient Philosophy
Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online
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