Lightning hits! Quality! Virtue! Dharma! That is what the Sophists were teaching! Not ethical relativism. Not pristine 'virtue.' But arete. Excellence. Dharma! Before the Church of Reason. Before substance. Before form. Before mind and matter. Before dialectic itself. Quality had been absolute. Those first teachers of the Western world were teaching Quality, and the medium they had chosen was that of rhetoric.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Sophists taught Quality, Excellence, and Dharma through rhetoric, not relativism; they were the first Western teachers of absolute values.
- In plain terms
- Sophists promoted absolute quality via persuasive speech.
- What can you take from it?
- Value rhetoric as a tool for conveying deep principles.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What role does rhetoric play in shaping values?
- How does quality differ from mere skill?
Another view
Historical evidence for this claim is debated among scholars.
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