Isocrates’ criticism of socratics in Against the Sophists and Encomium of Helen
Abstract
Several scholars have suggested that Isocrates’ speeches Against the Sophists and Encomium of Helen attack some of Socrates’ followers, mainly Plato, Antisthenes and Euclid. Nonetheless, most of these authors do not see the overall nature of Isocrates’ criticism of the Socratics, which not only includes the figures mentioned above, but it is aimed at the group as a whole. This article seeks to defend that hypothesis. In order to do so, I will reconstruct, firstly, Isocrates’ attack on the first group criticized in Against the Sophists and on the intellectuals from the prologue of Encomium of Helen. I will defend that both groups must be identified and that Isocrates attributes a set of shared doctrines and practices to all of them, among which he highlights an eristic methodology of argumentation and an intellectualist ethical position. Secondly, I will argue that these elements were practiced and defended by many of first-generation Socratics.Downloads
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