Noun
One of a class of men who taught eloquence, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece; especially, one of those who, by their fallacious but plausible reasoning, puzzled inquirers after truth, weakened the faith of the people, and drew upon themselves general hatred and contempt.
Hence, an impostor in argument; a captious or fallacious reasoner.
Source: Webster's dictionaryWhoever does not philosophize for the sake of philosophy, but rather uses philosophy as a means, is a sophist. Friedrich Schlegel
What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs-I was a man before I was a king. Robert E. Howard
The sophist sneers: Fool, take Thy pleasure, right or wrong! The pious wail: Forsake A world these sophists throng! Be neither saint nor sophist-led, but be a man. Matthew Arnold
The poet...is the man of metaphor: while the philosopher is interested only in the truth of meaning, beyond even signs and names, and the sophist manipulates empty signs...the poet plays on the multiplicity of signifieds. Jacques Derrida
Many of the older Sophists were selected as "ambassadors" of their cities, certainly no office of disrespect. The name Sophist was even applied without disparagement to Socrates and Plato themselves. Robert M. Pirsig
The Sophist demonstrates that everything is true and nothing is true. Soren Kierkegaard