If in many periods of human existence obviousness has been an element of knowledge and establishing facts, it is obvious that history is repeating itself… With a slightly different appearance, in barely changed circumstances, the same forces and ideas appear in the game of opposites that will contribute to the final balance of evolution.
It has been about two and a half thousand years since a public, political, and moral conflict between sophists and philosophers took place in Hellas. At that time, it may have seemed like an event unique to that civilization. However, there have always been philosophers and sophists, there are some today, and there will be, it seems, in the future.
Who were the sophists? They were individuals with diverse knowledge and brilliant rhetorical skills who were able to prove anything, but also its complete opposite. Their role was to prepare young Athenians for the challenges of the emerging democracy: it was necessary to develop skills that would meet the political needs of that time. Truth or encounter with the divine were not and died, convicted of corrupting the minds of the youth and not believing in the gods recognized by the state. His commitment to truth and his refusal to compromise his beliefs ultimately cost him his life, but his legacy as a philosopher and moral teacher lives on. because his death was not in opposition to the principles he advocated by his own example throughout his life.
Today, the names are different. Sophists are abundant and we encounter them at every turn, although they hide under various names. However, their actions and goals remain the same.
On the other hand, just like before, there are few philosophers who are passionate lovers of wisdom and consistent with their own ideas. Yet, even these few are mercilessly attacked and accused with the same charges that ended Socrates’ life centuries ago: corrupting the youth and denying the true gods…
Some historians even say that Socrates never existed and that the Athenians simply invented him because he was needed as a moral model in a time of declining traditional values. We do not believe that was the case. In any case, if we had been there at that time, we would probably have “created” such an archetypal figure like Socrates ourselves. Just as it would be necessary to invent or create him today, if not as the presence of the genius Socrates, then as a symbol of wisdom. measures of shortness, then as a result of the actions of all those who love true knowledge and want to live it despite criticisms and limitations.
History repeats itself, and with it the choice: philosophers or sophists?