The Sophist (216C-217E)
The distinction among sophist, statesman, and philosopher is posed as a threefold classification whose members, the Stranger maintains, are difficult to define clearly. Socrates first portrays genuine philosophers as assuming many apparent forms because most people fail to recognize them: as they observe life in different cities, they may be judged worthless or supremely valuable and may be mistaken for statesmen, sophists, or even madmen. He therefore asks whether the Stranger’s country treats these three names as designating one, two, or three classes; the Stranger answers that they are three, while stressing that determining the nature of each is no small or easy task. When Theodorus notes that the question resembles one previously put to the Stranger, Socrates asks whether he prefers a continuous exposition or a question-and-answer exchange, recalling Parmenides’ use of the latter method. The Stranger says dialogue is easier with a cooperative interlocutor but otherwise favors an uninterrupted speech, and Socrates invites him to choose the young Theaetetus or another participant. Although initially embarrassed to deliver a long address on his first visit, the Stranger indicates that the subject cannot be handled through brief replies and will require an extended speech.