Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> Socrates once approached a
> sophist and asked him "who are you?" "I am a philosopher, cant' you see?"
> answered the sophist. "What is a philosopher?" queried Socrates. "A
> philsopher is someone whose wisdom is beyond comprehension of commoners,
> like you" replied the sophist.
The anecdote would be better if the speakers were different. In the historical reality of ancient Athens it was *Socrates* who was the primary spokesperson for the position that wisdom was above the reach of common folk -- it was the Sophists whose central doctrine was that ordinary folks, even artisans and peasants, in fact could understand the truth. It was that democratic (rule by the people) position that earned the Sophists the undying hatred of the man who, following Parmenides and Socrates, preached that the only virtue of which common men were capable was the virtue of realizing that they must follow the advice of their superiors.
For a detailed development of this, see Ellen Meiksins Wood, *Peasant- Citizen and Slave: The Foundations of Athenian Democracy*. Protagoras, the greatest of the Sophists, was also the greatest defender o the democracy.
Carrol