In IV century BC, many important terms that had to do with wisdom (sophia), such as “philosophy” (philosophia), “philosopher” (philosophos), “sophistry” (sophistikê) and “sophist” (sophistês), had not yet received the definition they have today. For instance, Plato defined philosophy by opposing it to sophistry. Isocrates assimilated “true sophists” with “true wise men” whereas Xenophon gave the word “philosophy” a meaning that resembled that of “sophistry”. Today, Plato’s definition has been generally accepted. However, in Imperial Rome, during the Second Sophistic, many philosophers continued to reject it, for instance Philostratus and Aelius Aristides.
The objective of the research project is to analyse the use of such words as “philosophy”, “philosopher”, “sophistry” and “sophist” in Greek Antiquity, more precisely in authors of the V century BC like Gorgias, Hippias and Protagoras, and in IV century BC’s authors like Plato, Isocrates, Xenophon and Aristotle. Such an analysis aims at understanding how authors of V and IV century BC used and comprehended these words as well as how they influenced their meanings. The research project also aims at building an understanding of how these ancient words developed in Imperial Rome and Ancient Armenia until their current meanings were concretised.