What does "sophism" mean?
The school of the sophists in antiquity; their beliefs and method of teaching philosophy and rhetoric.
Sophism
noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The school of the sophists in antiquity; their beliefs and method of teaching philosophy and rhetoric.
- Grammar: sophism is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: sophistry, apparent soundness, argument, argument by analogy.
- Useful contrasts: candid reasoning, honest argument, rigorous logic.
- Usage evidence: Within the framework of democracy a new ideology, born of sophism, took root and proclaimed the rights of the individual in all spheres, political as well as moral.
How to use "sophism"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
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Before you rely on this definition
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Definition decision workflow
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The school of the sophists in antiquity; their beliefs and method of teaching philosophy and rhetoric. historical, uncountable
"Within the framework of democracy a new ideology, born of sophism, took root and proclaimed the rights of the individual in all spheres, political as well as moral."
- 2 Archaic spelling of Sufism. alt-of, archaic, uncountable
- 3 a deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone wordnet
- 4 A flawed argument, superficially correct in its reasoning, usually designed to deceive. countable
"The hope of improvement is a quality at once so strong and so excellent in the human mind, that I, for one, disapprove of any sophism—or, if you will, argument—that tends to repress it."
- 5 An intentional fallacy. countable
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Sophistic, fallacious reasoning or argumentation. uncountable
"What! No demonstration of the Being of God! No abstract arguments! No proofs a priori! Are these, which have hitherto been so much insisted on by philosophers, all fallacy, all sophism? Can we reach no further in this subject than experience and probability?"
- 7 Wisdom and knowledge. countable, rare
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
candid reasoninghonest argumentrigorous logicsound argument
Example
"Within the framework of democracy a new ideology, born of sophism, took root and proclaimed the rights of the individual in all spheres, political as well as moral."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sophism"?
Common synonyms include: sophistry, apparent soundness, argument, argument by analogy, argumentum ad baculum, argumentum ad captandum.
How do you use "sophism" in a sentence?
Within the framework of democracy a new ideology, born of sophism, took root and proclaimed the rights of the individual in all spheres, political as well as moral.
Etymology
From Middle English sophim, from Old French soffime, sofime, sofisme, sophisme, from Latin sophisma (“fallacy, sophism”), from Ancient Greek σόφῐσμᾰ (sóphĭsmă), from σοφίζω (sophízō) + -μα (-ma).