The Greek sophists : teachers of virtue

This dissertation is a study of the Greek sophists as teachers of <i>aretê</i> (virtue or human excellence) and a study of the conflict between sophistic and Socratic political values as portrayed in the dialogues of Plato. The first section offers a new definition of the term "sophist" based on ancient sources and attempts to present as clear a picture as is historically possible of the sophists' activities. The second section examines and evaluates Plato's criticisms of the sophists drawing attention especially to the dependence of certain criticisms upon a questionable set of epistemological assumptions about the role of knowledge in ethical action. And the final section describes in detail what the sophists understood <i>aretê</i> to entail and how they went about teaching it.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Grantor

Political Science

Year dc:date.available

2002

Author dc:creator

• Corey, David Dwyer

• sophists
• virtue
• socrates
• prodicus
• protagoras
• hippias
• plato

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Identifier

etd-0415102-173827
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/270

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.lsu.edu:gradschool_dissertations-1269