Sophistry is Unsophisticated

In his April 25, 2009 Washington Post column, Eugene Robinson used a word that is often practiced but seldom spoken. His word,  sophistry, is a form of rhetoric or argumentation. Although originally derived from the Greek word for “wise”, sophistry is now viewed as specious and intended to deceive. The term describes a broad range of practices in today’s political climate and deserves far more attention than it gets.  Sophistry is in play, for example, when a Texas governor suggests that his state may secede, but then provides himself cover by disavowing secession.  Ad Hominem arguments are a favorite appeal of sophists.

Sophistry is the weapon of South Carolina’s ambitious governor as he argues against accepting federal education funds when education is his state’s greatest need. Sophistry is at work when glib politicians with infinitesimal knowledge of economic science proclaim their simple solutions, or their father’s,  superior to those of  Nobel prize winning economists.  Sophistry may well be indicated when a cable news channel promotes its views by cleverly convincing citizens that they themselves thought of holding mass meetings to protest tax increases for obscenely wealthy Americans.

Finally, while it shares an etymological root with “sophisticated”, sophistry lives at the other end of the intellectual spectrum. When we fall victim to sophists, they are using us to promote their own ends.