During class today, we discussed the difference between the Sophists' principles and Socrates’ principles. During the discussion about the Sophists, I discovered something very interesting. Even though the Sophists represent ideas that we are supposed to be against, many of the ideas seem to represent values in our society.
The idea that we must win the game of life seems to be one of the main examples of our society supporting Sophist values. Sophists wanted to win the game of life, no matter what that entailed. I feel that even though we cannot define exactly what it means to win the game of life, most people in our society represent this principle. People want to be happy, and most people feel they need to make a lot of money to achieve happiness. Sophists did everything they could to get rich, even if it meant taking advantage of others. I do not feel that everyone in our society is trying to get rich, but almost everyone has future goals. I feel that many of the people who have these goals will do anything to achieve them. I have seen many instances where people are so focused on achieving their goals that they are not worried about how their achieving process may affect others. People want to win the game of life, no matter what it takes; I feel this idea relates exactly to what the Sophists represent.
Even though not everyone's main goal is getting rich, I feel that being wealthy in looked at as a major advantage in our society. I also feel that being wealthy is represented in our society as being extremely important. It seems that our society represents the idea that the wealthy are more important than everyone else is. I think this idea is identical to what the Sophists believe. Sophists seem to believe that winning the game of life means having more possessions then others do; the American dream seems to represent the same idea. Instead of considering what is good, or what the truth is, Americans seem to only want to have the most money.
Since it seems that we are not supposed to support what the Sophists represent, I am wondering if we should support what Americans represent. Maybe I am wrong, but it seems like most Americans would support the idea that getting rich is extremely important. It seems that more Americans represent Sophist ideas rather than the ideas that Socrates represents.
Do you feel that Americans represent many Sophist ideas? And
Do you believe that American people support the wrong principles of living?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think that just about anyone in the world who owns something that they take dear to their heart as a result of earning that certain something in one way or another supports this Sophist idea. The reason I say this is that most of the things that we try to earn in the world are things that we are seeking to achieve, a personal goal for us to become fixated on, and eventually proud of. This feeling of success is what I understand to be a "Sophist" way of thought, and even though it may not represent the whole set of Sophist ideals, it is definitely something that can be considered their own.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the American people supporting wrong principles of living, this is what I have to say. Many people in the world, not only the United States live by the wrong principles of living these days. I think that a lot of what is wrong with our society today can be pinned directly to inappropriate approaches to living life happily.
To me there is more to life than representing what we can prove to be better at than one another; for life is about becoming one with what you are meant to be, wouldn't you agree?