Sophisticated Skepticism

Key Words:
Rhetoric -
Sophist (prior to Plato) - people who pursued and possessed wisdom
Sophist - 4th and 5th century Greek teacher specializing in fields of philosophy, rhetoric, mathematics, music and athletics
Arete - virtue or excellence
Sophistic rhetoric - how language shapes the worlds we choose to inhabit
Temporary -
Ephemeral -
Contextual -
Local -
Relativism -
Epideictic speech - one man speaking to a crowd in order to control public sentiment
Practical rhetoric - a person speaking to a group in order to get something done
Logoi - reasons
Ekklesia/ecclesia - gathering of citizens in a city-state
Demos - the people
Statis theory - a rhetorical method to reach the point of a possibly controversial issue
Astaysis - unable to reach an end to argument
Monomeresare - issues that do not need debate as the evidence is all one-sided
Isazon - perfectly balanced argument, evidence on both sides, so that no conclusion can be drawn
Ellipes - a disagreement predicated on incomplete evidence
Aporon - no solution or end to the inquiry is possible i.e. definitions cannot be agreed upon or the method for evaluating evidence is questionable
Indirection - The technique of doing or saying one thing while appearing to do or say something else
Apophasis - a rhetorical device wherein a speaker brings up a topic only to deny it or to deny that it should be brought up
Elenchus - dialogical practice that leads to universal disbelief; a logical refutation

The excerpts from Parmenides poems highlight views of Objective Truth. From these words it seems he was focused on understanding what is. His poetry highlights a very realistic view of existence not at all giving credence to things that cannot be seen or understood. He seems steadfast in his beliefs of what existence and the fact that something cannot come from nothing. The funeral oration is included as a part of Thucydides works as an homage to the great city of Athens and the great men who lived and died for it. In the commemorative speech, Pericles honors the city by speaking of the great things it has achieved and how it is an example to it's neighbors. Then he goes on to relate the greatness of the city to the greatness of the men who have lost their lives defending it. This speech acts as a call to action to the listeners to passionately grieve their loved ones but to not forget that their death was an honorable one. Protagoras' writing introduces a new way of thinking moving to a more logical approach of thought. He is credited with the introduction of questioning and what may be better known as the Socratic method of analysis. The fragments of his writing reflect thoughts on being and assert that what appears to be so, is so and is the introduction to balanced arguing, or arguments on both sides of an issue. He and his writings were casted out as blasphemous with his anti-religious views of which sate that "man is the measure of all things". Gorgias' argument on existence, though complicated and perhaps absurd to the modern reader, represents a new school of thought and rather than purely being on existence, to be or not to be, reflects on the idea of the power words hold. His argument represents the power of persuasion as convoluted as it may be, it hinges on logic and with this logic he reaches the conclusion that there is no existence nor non-existence. His form of logic uses contradiction to reach his point and conveys that words can be used to express thought but cannot accurately reflect what is. The Diossi Logoi ponder two-fold arguments analyzing the distinction between good and evil, shameful and seemly, justice and injustice, whether knowledge and morality can be taught or acquired, truth and falsehood, the differences or lack thereof between the demented, the sane and the wise, and how jobs should be assigned. The conclusion of these arguments at least of the binary ones is that good vs evil, or justice vs injustice and the like are circumstantial. What is good for one may be bad for another but this does not make good and bad one in the same. On the topic of "lot-drawing" for job assignments, the writer contends that it is impractical to assign functions based on lottery, though this may seem fair. Individuals are more suited or better trained for certain positions and it would be foolish to ignore these specialties.