79 - Rachel Barney: Ancient Philosophy and the Sophists

Rachel Barney is Professor of Classics and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. She received her PhD at Princeton and has taught at the University of Ottawa, Harvard, and the University of Chicago. She has worked widely across ancient philosophy, from the sophists to the Neoplatonists, though her primary focus is on Plato. In this episode, Robinson and Rachel discuss the sophists, beginning with just who they were and why they have been so maligned in contemporary discourse—even the word sophist today has pejorative connotations—and continuing through some of their most important thinkers, like Gorgias and Protagoras. Check out Rachel’s last book, Plato and the Divided Self (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

OUTLINE:

00:00 In This Episode...

00:34 Introduction

04:28 Rachel’s Interest in Ancient Philosophy

09:49 Misunderstanding the Sophists

20:04 What Displaced the Sophists’ Philosophical Practices?

26:17 Philosophy and Protophilosophy

29:39 The Main Sophists

33:43 Gorgias and Non-Being

53:37 On Protagoras

1:07:40 Religion and the Sophists

1:12:55 More on Protagoras

1:17:50 Virtue in Homer and Hesiod

1:28:05 Ancient Philosophy and How to Live

Robinson’s Website: ⁠http://robinsonerhardt.com⁠

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.