The influence of the Sophists on Arete, as defined in the Greek culture : [an honors thesis (HONRS] 499)

Abstract

This paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for graduation on the honors program at Ball State University.Its purpose is to defend the following thesis. The Greek sophists did not comprise a force which demoralized the Greek citizens in the fifth century B.C. The sophists were, on the contrary, an important force that helped put morality on a new base. They gave a voice to individualism and enriched Greek thought with their destructive criticism of convention and prejudice. Finally, they were influential in developing a fundamental idea of an organized system of moral and political education.