Brian Johnson and Donald Robertson explore Socrates' distinction between sophists and philosophers using a confectioner metaphor. Sophists pander for reputation and gain; philosophers offer medicine for the soul. The core question: do you want candy or a cure?
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last one, we spent some time with Donald Robertson and learned a bit more about how to think like Socrates. As you may recall, we chatted about the distinction between the ancient and modern sophist and philosopher. Today I want to continue that discussion and first I want to give Donald a proper introduction. Donald Robertson is a writer, trainer and cognitive behavioral therapist. He's also one of the world's leading scholars and practitioners of Stoic philosophy and has played a leading role in helping bring this ancient wisdom to our modern world. He's been one of my absolute favorite writers and Stoic thinkers practitioners since I read one of his earlier books called the Philosophy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and his more recent book called how to Think Like a Roman Emperor. Check out the notes on both those books. Now, this book cemented that position as one of my favorite writers. In my mind, it's a remarkably creative, thoughtful and practical exploration of the life and wisdom of the founder of Western philosophy. Now let's get to work. In how to Think Like Socrates, Donald comes back to the whole sophist versus philosopher theme many, many times. Now, later in the book, he tells us, and I quote, Socrates, however, said that this meant orators resembled confectioners. At first, this perplexed everyone, but Socrates explained what he meant. Confectioners, he said, come up with recipes for sweets which appeal to the tastes of their customers. They learn through trial and error how to give people what they want, regardless of whether it's good for them or not. Socrates said that he therefore considered both rhetoric and confectionery to be forms of pandering to others by attempting to gratify them, one with sweets, the other with fine words. And Donald tells us, pandering, said Socrates, pays no attention to the best interests of its subjects and instead catches the foolish with the bait of pleasure, tricking them into esteeming it more highly than their own good. On this definition, of course, the vast majority of politicians would be panderers or or demagogues rather than genuine statesmen. These men employ rhetoric in order to gain power instead of studying justice and learning how to benefit society. Plus, Donald says, they are far more concerned with the appearance than truth, and they create the impression of possessing wisdom and virtue despite being ignorant of their nature. Rhetorical is to the mind, said Socrates, as confectionary is to to the body. Both are knacks that their practitioners have developed for pandering to the desires of the ignorant, and neither puts any attention on what is in anyone's best interest, end quote. That's today's plus one. Let's step back from all the content we're consuming and check in on whether we're being sold candy or being offered medicine for our soul. And let's make sure we're not the ones pandering to what people want to hear as we stop selling candy to ourselves and to those around us. While we do that, here's to remembering one of Socrates most famous admonitions. He once said for I do nothing but go around persuading you all, old and young alike, not to worry about your reputation or your property, but to make it your greatest concern to achieve the greatest improvements possible in your own character. Moral wisdom is not acquired through money. On the contrary, such wisdom is a source of true wealth and everything else that is good for man and for the city.
What's up? This is Michael, President and Head Coach at Heroic. One quick note before we go. I just think it's so amazing that Brian keeps reading all these books and distilling them into more wisdom and less time. By the way, thank you Brian for continuing to read the books is still them for us. I love not having to read the book, just getting them more wisdom in less time through the plus ones of Philosopher's Notes. And if you're into this kind of thing, expressing the best version of yourself and using your greatest gifts make a positive impact on the world. Make sure you head to Heroic Us to check out all the other resources that we have available to you. You can download a bunch of free goodies, including Philosopher's Notes, Master classes in our scientifically proven Heroic app. Or you can also explore advanced resources to help you go next level, including live and virtual workshops, working one on one with a Heroic Performance coach, or even becoming a certified coach yourself as you master Heroic performance, the fundamentals of Coaching Excellence, and Heroic Coaching prosperity. Again, head to Heroic Us to get the ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools you need to activate your heroic potential and change the world together. And please do hit subscribe, appreciate you have a fantastic day and see you again soon.
