Pendants, professors, and the law of the excluded middle: On sophists and sophistry

Placed on a meliorative‐pejorative scale the terms sophist and sophistry allow varying interpretations, according to the types of sophistry, the nature of the sophists’ teachings, and changing meanings of the terms themselves. This paper examines some current misconceptions about the sophists and urges that critics consider both merits and faults of sophists in assessing their role in ancient education.