Sophistry

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{{cquote|A sophist is either a philosopher who works for money, or a philosopher you don't like.|||{{wpl|Eric Kaplan}} in ''Does Santa Exist? A Philosophical Investigation''<ref>From his 2014 book, [http://www.amazon.com/Does-Santa-Exist-Philosophical-Investigation/dp/0525954392 ''Does Santa Exist? A Philosophical Investigation''], page 23.</ref>}}

'''Sophistry''' is a modern term<ref>The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term in English only as far back as 1340.</ref> and occasional [[snarl word]] connoting the use of [[rhetoric]]al trappings that involve [[Deceit|deception]], obfuscation, or [[equivocation]]. In other words, it is a fancy way to sound authoritative even when you're wrong. Sophists often use [[logical fallacies]] to bolster (''heh'') their arguments, relying on the audience's lack of familiarity with [[logic]] to push conclusions onto them that would otherwise not be accepted. Those who deploy sophistry may come across as great debaters and intellectuals, but really utilise deceit to make a point.

Within the ranks of the [[Roman Catholic Church]], the highly educated [[Jesuits]] gained a reputation for sophistry<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Nicolini
 |first1               = Giovanni Battista
 |author-link1         = Giovanni Battista Niccolini
 |chapter              = Doctrines and Moral Code of the Jesuits
 |title                = History of the Jesuits: Their Origin, Progress, Doctrines, and Designs
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=lmbyXrqyw7cC
 |series               = Bohn's illustrated library
 |location             = London
 |publisher            = Henry G. Bohn
 |publication-date     = 1854
 |page                 = 237
 |access-date          = 29 May 2022
 |quote                = [...] be sure that the Jesuit confessor will find in some book or other of his brother Jesuits some sophistry to set his conscience at rest [...].
}} 
</ref>
and casuistry.<ref>{{wpa|casuistry}}</ref>

==Origins==

The term "sophistry" is derived from the Sophists of Ancient Greece, a loose coalition of itinerant educators who taught life skills to anyone with enough money to pay. They didn't have a defined school of thought or unified set of beliefs;<ref group=note>Although they were generally [[skeptical]] with an [[atheist]] bent. "Protogoras the sophist announced: 'About the gods [[Agnosticism|I cannot declare whether they exist or not]]'; other sophists speculated about why men had never come to believe in deity, and it is possible that Anaxagoras, the leading scientist of his day, was an atheist. Men began to notice the moral implications of the scientists' physical explanations of the world, which left the gods powerless to intervene in defense of their ordinances." The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World, p326</ref> in fact they occupied a similar role to modern Motivational Speakers. They traveled Greece holding seminars on public speaking, rhetoric, and persuasion to anyone who would pay them. Regardless of whether you were wrong or right, a Sophist could teach you how to ''sound right''. 

They tended not to concern themselves with difficult ideas like [[Truth]] or [[ethics|Right and Wrong]], instead leaning toward cynicism, [[relativism]], and [[style over substance]]. Because of their tendency to live on the fence and charge quite a lot of money to teach other people how to think badly, both [[Plato]]<ref group=note>Plato accused them of having an "undifferentiated and confused" philosophy. p280</ref> and [[Socrates]]<ref group=note>He felt they argued by quoting endlessly and using rhetorical devices instead of genuine reason. http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialSciences/ppecorino/INTRO_TEXT/Chapter%202%20GREEKS/Sophists.htm</ref> considered them to be pretentious and generally detrimental to society.

Independently, a similar line of philosophy arose in ancient [[China]] around the same time; the word-for-word translation of their philosophy is the School of Names. The three best known today are {{wpl|Gongsun Longzi}}, {{wpl|Hu Shi|Huizi}}, and {{wpl|Zhuangzi}}; the latter two were contemporaries. They earned the ire of other philosophers, so much so that the Legalist {{wpl|Han Feizi}} produced an extended rant about them.

==Etymology and modern usage==

The term "Sophist" comes from the Greek word for "wisdom", and is therefore a little [[Irony|ironic]] in retrospect. Nowadays it is mostly used as an [[ad hominem]] argument. People often use it to mean someone lying with pretense or style, but this isn't technically correct. It is sophistry to play [[Devil's advocate]], and people don't usually do that with sincerity. Debate contests are sophist affairs as well, with sides being assigned a position they need to support regardless of what 
they believe
 is true, but you wouldn't call that lying.

==See also==
*[[Bullshit]]
*[[Doublespeak]]
*[[Jargon]]
*[[Management speak]]
*[[Propaganda]]
*[[Technobabble]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Evaluating arguments]]

Categories: Evaluating arguments