Isocrates Against the Sophists 2

George Norlin (Translator)

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Against the Sophists. Isocrates. George Norlin (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1928.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Against the Sophists (English) (Isocrates, Vol 2. Norlin, George, translator. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1929 (printing).)

Editions (1)
Κατὰ τῶν σοφιστῶν Perseus (Isocrates, Vol 2. Norlin, George, editor. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1929 (printing).) — 2 focus

Notes on the current edition

Against the Sophists

1. There is, according to Isocrates, no “science” which can teach us to do under all circumstances the things which will insure our happiness and success. Life is too complicated for that, and no man can foresee exactly the consequences of his acts—“the future is a thing unseen.” All that education can do is to develop a sound judgement (as opposed to knowledge) which will meet the contingencies of life with resourcefulness and, in most cases, with success. This is a fundamental doctrine of his “philosophy” which he emphasizes and echoes again and again in opposition to the professors of a “science of virtue and happiness.” See General Introd. pp. xxvii ff.
2. See Hom. Il. 16.431 ff. and Hom. Il. 16.652 ff. ; Hom. Il. 22.168 ff.