Facilitator:
The ground of argument staged by Sophist delineates a clear line between what people perceive to be truth and the actual reality from the philosophical perspective. In relativism, their belief that cultural factors like marriage and family assumed a relative meaning to the people as the customs of marriage among the Chinese and the Americans differ. However, the Sophist fails to elevate the profound source of the major differences. The philosophers observe that some beliefs arise from the beliefs of the people and the regional characteristics (Klonoski, 2003). Most of the cultural relativism factors used by the Sophist drew their roots from the local ethical and inherited differences.
The dialectic, as used by the sophists to teach their children argument skills, functioned well for most of the economies. Among the Chinese debates, the Sophist argued that the dialectic helped the children to figure out real life issues and articulate them well in the society. However, the sophists failed to note that the dialectic messed up some arguments as the children could easily maneuver their way to the winning side. The cultural skepticsand the individual differences among the children heavily affected the arguments of the children, a factor that the Sophist ignored.
The use of physis and nomos in teaching, according to Klonoski (2003), helped the people to some extent but the society argued that the truth did not lie in the natural factors all the time. At times, the truth lied in the norms of the society and the beliefs of the people. Not all things that were legally right had the correct morals. The concept of truth and argument among the sophists in their time has sparked some sense into critical thinking although it has brought some confusion. The truth cannot change easily but the arguments of the sophists made some facts appear wrong and wrong facts appear true.
References
Klonoski, R. J. (2003). Unapplied ethics: On the need for classical philosophy in professional ethics education.Teaching Business Ethics, 7(1), 21-35. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/211885618?accountid=45049
