Volume 9, Issue 2, Spring 2005
Special Issue: The Ancient Philosophy Society
Corinne Painter
Pages 317-333
In Defense of Socrates
The Stranger’s Role in Plato’s Sophist
In this essay I argue that the Stranger’s interest in keeping the philosopher and the sophist distinct is connected, primarily, to his assessment of the charges of
sophistry advanced against Socrates, which compels him to defend Socrates from these unduly advanced accusations. On this basis, I establish that the Stranger’s task in the Sophist, namely to keep philosophy distinct from sophistry, is intimately tied to the project of securing justice and is therefore not merely of theoretical importance but is also—and essentially—of political and ethical significance.