Hi Pamir: One (fun) piece of historical background here is the Athenian legal system. Athens didn't allow prosecutors or defendants to represent a client in court; instead, professional speechwriters (logographoi) would write speeches for their clients to deliver. So, there weren't quite 'lawyers' in a typical modern sense-of barristers. One version of Plato's discussion of this in the dialogue 'Phaedrus', analyzing the difference between writing and live conversation, with reference to the famous logographos Lysias. There's certainly a similarity between the logographos and the sophist, but it's also important to consider that 'sophist' is a category constructed by Plato (and others) for criticism of a group, not necessarily a self-description of that group. Thanks for the good question!
In today's society, could lawyers be considered as the modern Sophists? They can argue persuasively. Great video, as always. Thank you.
Hi Pamir: One (fun) piece of historical background here is the Athenian legal system. Athens didn't allow prosecutors or defendants to represent a client in court; instead, professional speechwriters (logographoi) would write speeches for their clients to deliver. So, there weren't quite 'lawyers' in a typical modern sense-of barristers. One version of Plato's discussion of this in the dialogue 'Phaedrus', analyzing the difference between writing and live conversation, with reference to the famous logographos Lysias. There's certainly a similarity between the logographos and the sophist, but it's also important to consider that 'sophist' is a category constructed by Plato (and others) for criticism of a group, not necessarily a self-description of that group. Thanks for the good question!