Antilochus’ Stratagem
In the horse race of Antilochus, the opponent had a better steed. Although Antilochus was at a clear disadvantage, he won the race using a typical sophistic mode. That is, he used means to make the weaker horse arrive first. In the same way, weaker arguments can become winning arguments. The point is that to achieve an effect, sophists make 'speeches.' Those who come to hear the sophist’s speech do not come to be persuaded but to engage, respond appropriately, and form specific relationships.
Sophistry vs. Philosophy
With the emergence of Plato, a strange change began in ancient Greece. From now on, what is important in a debate is not victory or defeat but who is right, who speaks in the name of truth. Where does truth exist? This is Socrates' question. Through Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, people came to relate to ‘dialectic’ which was absent in sophistry. From that moment, it is clear that people need a mediator. The philosopher's third party means an intrinsic common judge, not an external judge. What matters is that both the philosopher and the judge reach an agreement. From that moment, dialectic replaced dual argument. In Platonic dialogues to Aristotelian dialectics, there exist dialectics to persuade both sides, and discourse is turned to demand the right to truth. This is a discourse type with boundaries at the center, not taking a clear side. In sophistry, removing boundaries is nonsense.
Discourse without Terror
Sophistic discourse adopts a particularly noble attitude and is completely free from the fear of responsibility towards truth. This shows that handling language artistically is important, indicating that sophistic discourse is essentially unrelated to terrorism. Although the effects of this discourse may have some violent aspects, it is only within the sharpness and purposiveness of the rhetorical weapons used in the debate, without any terror. In Antilochus’s stratagem, even if the opponent had a faster horse, they could not surpass him. This is the moment of Kairos (the opportune moment). Since Kairos does not last long, it must be properly utilized. From this, we see that Kairos is related to politics, and a politician must have the intuition of when the opportune moment arises.
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