Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00062)

Very well written. Perhaps that makes Socrates, in this case, the first
to use the post modernist technique of putting a term upon its head.
Thanks for making my morning.
--jhe

Koshek Swaminathan wrote:

> During his trial, Socrates declared himself not to be a Sophist. He
> said that the difference between him and a Sophist is that the
> Sophist already knows but he knows that he does not know.
>
> If he calls himself a "wise man" (Sophist) than he cannot be wise. He
> declared himself instead as a Lover of Wisdom or Philosopher.
>
> Today if someone is knowledgable he is not called a sophist but a
> philosopher, sometimes even a doctor of philosophy. Sophistry is a
> term used for someone who tries to prove what he wants to prove.
>
> Socrates was the first to give the term Theosophy to the wisdom he
> was persuing, that is Divine Wisdom. The way he used the term was
> that the wisdom he aquired was from the will of the divine and not
> his own- in other words - he was not looking to prove any particular
> result but allowed reason to give a result regardless of his personal
> choice in the matter.
>
> This is an important definition if we are to think of Theosophy
> today. Are we going to change it's original meaning? Why did HPB
> decide to use this particular term in the first place?
>
> I'd be curious if anyone has an answer.
>
> Koshek