Sophistæ

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A name that can praise expertise or condemn deception.

In the book. The distinction matters in works that contrast competent art with fraudulent practice.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 43; facsimile PDF page 371.

Historical Definition

Sophistæ sometimes means masters of an art, or the wisest in an art; at other times it means sophisters, that is, deceivers or mountebanks.

Meaning

The definition explicitly records contrary evaluations. A sophist can be an expert or a deceptive pretender. Sometimes and at other times preserve the fact that the context determines which judgment is intended.

Use in the Book

The distinction matters in works that contrast competent art with fraudulent practice. An isolated occurrence cannot be translated as deceiver merely because that sense is familiar. Nor should the flattering sense erase an author’s criticism when the surrounding passage supplies it.

Compare Spagirus, defined through the ability to distinguish good from bad and pure from impure. Both entries concern the identity of an artist, but Sophistæ records the instability of a name, while Spagirus gives an account of a valued discriminating skill.

Places to Read

Spagirus. The alchemical practitioner defined through discrimination and separation.

In This Edition

Both favorable and unfavorable meanings are retained. Their opposition belongs to the historical definition and should remain easy for a reader to see.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 43; facsimile PDF page 371 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Sophistæ; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 371; compare Spagirus

See also. Spagirus