The Sophists’ Detractors and Plato’s Representation of Socrates

Abstract In several dialogues Socrates criticizes negative comments made against a sophist or the sophists. I show that Socrates’ target really is sophists’ detractor, not sophists themselves. From these passages draw two broader conclusions. First, Plato’s defence of memory sometimes relies on creating parallel between and Socrates, rather than distinguishing them him. Secondly, Socratic philosophical practice has widely neglected feature: examining correcting criticism by his interlocutors others.