Western Civilization I / Unit 4 WC1 0315 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Nature or Custom? The Sophists
Captions available
The idea
Greek philosophy's central question was whether institutions and ethics are natural or merely conventional. The Sophists, traveling tutors, taught that no absolute truths exist, that both sides can be argued, and that virtue is success.
In practice
The witnesses use the word over a hundred times; the anchor defines it.
Where people slip
Sophist is not an insult in this unit. It names a school.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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