Was Socrates a Sophist?

Sophists were flourishing in and around Athens in the latter half of the fifth century BC, and played a major role in the thriving city. They had a great influence on the artistic and intellectual culture of the era, however they almost immediately acquired a bad reputation, and this reputation has stuck. A sophist was known as a quibbler, someone who indulges in mere argument for argument’s sake, and by playing on words, makes issues problematic that are not. For most Athenians, Socrates was misunderstood, and often accused of being a sophist. For example, in his comedy, Clouds, Aristophanes portrays Socrates as a Sophist. These accusations eventually led to his death, however there were many differences between him and the sophists, and writers such as Plato, Aristotle and Xenophon back up the idea he was not a sophist. Socrates ideas were heavily concerned with the truth and believed philosophical truth was much more important than public acceptance. As seen in Gorgias, he argued for moral rhetoric and used a method of inquiry and discussion between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas. It is a dialectical method, often involving a discussion in which the defence of one point of view is questioned. A participant may lead another to contradict himself in some way, strengthening the inquirer's own point. Sophists on the other hand, were not interested in the truth of a matter whatsoever, and used methods far different from Socrates. They were experts in the practice and theory of rhetoric speaking. Sophists would use clever tricks to manipulate the argument in their favour, and ethics and morality were not an issue to them in the slightest. They could persuade a jury and sway an assembly, even in the most unpromising circumstances, which led to their words being likened to charms or spells, which charmed those who happened to hear them. Such powers excited admiration and fear in equal measure, which contributed to their bad name.
Socrates believed in universals. The sophists, on the other hand, were relativists. Protagoras, for instance, considered man "the measure of all things". For the sophists, there is no true or false, and no right or wrong. It is relative to the individual. Socrates rejects this. The sophists emphasized the person who is speaking, rather than what can be said about a topic. While Socrates would wonder what can be said about justice, holiness, or wisdom, the sophists would take their own authority, or the authority of a great poet, over the words of a common man like Socrates. The sophists genuinely believed they were among the wisest and that they were able to teach others to be wise as well. They lived off their teachings and wisdom and exercised political power by using their rhetorical expertise in law courts and assemblies, and acquired a fortune from the very high fees they charged for teaching their oratorical skills. Socrates, on the contrary, made no money for his efforts, and was concerned that the tuition of the sophists encouraged a dereliction of virtue in favour of vanity, political power and wealth. He did not claim he was making anyone wiser or that he was a teacher. In fact, he claimed he was only helping them remember what their souls once knew. He insisted his ideas were not his own, and once famously said "I know that I know nothing".
Another famous saying of Socrates is "what I do not know I do not think I know". The interpretation of this remark is that Socrates' wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance. Socrates believed wrongdoing was a consequence of ignorance and those who did wrong knew no better.
Socrates believed the best way for people to live was to focus on the pursuit of virtue rather than the pursuit of material wealth. He always invited others to try to concentrate more on friendships and a sense of true community, for Socrates felt this was the best way for people to grow together as a populace. The idea that there are certain virtues formed a common thread in Socrates' ideas. These virtues represented the most important qualities for a person to have, foremost of which were the philosophical or intellectual virtues. Socrates stressed that "the unexamined life is not worth living and ethical virtue is the only thing that matters”. This goes against everything we know of the sophists.
Socrates actions lived up to this, and in the end, he accepted his death sentence when most thought he would simply leave Athens as he felt he could not run away from or go against the will of his community. He was charged like many other sophists, with corrupting the youth, and also questioning the gods. By accepting his death and choosing to drink poison, he stayed true to his teachings, the only thing that mattered to him. Many believe he did this to make a point that he was by no means, a sophist.