SOPHISTRY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Sophistry

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noun

Sophistry n.

The art or process of reasoning; logic. (Obs.)

The practice of a sophist; fallacious reasoning; reasoning sound in appearance only. "The juggle of sophistry consists, for the most part, in usig a word in one sense in the premise, and in another sense in the conclusion."

Synonyms: See Fallacy.

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Etymology of 'Sophistry'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sophistry" Quotes from Famous Books

... infallibility of human testimony discredits the miracles of the past. The impossibility that human knowledge, that science, can ever exhaust the possibilities of Nature, precludes the immediate reference to the Supernatural for all time. It is pure sophistry to argue, as do Canon Row and other defenders of miracles, that 'the laws of Nature are no more violated by the performance of a miracle than they are by the activities of a man.' If these arguments of the special pleaders had any force at all, ...

— Tracks of a Rolling Stone • Henry J. Coke

... an aggravation of the injury which they have committed, and is so far from being a reason for letting them enjoy that property for ever, that it is rather a reason for compelling them to make prompt restitution. With this childish sophistry the petitions on our table are filled. Is it possible that any man can be so dull as not to perceive that, if this be a reason, it is a reason against all our statutes of limitation? I do a greater wrong to my tailor if I withhold payment of his bill during six years ...

— The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 4 (of 4) - Lord Macaulay's Speeches • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... the darkness upon me. Hunched up in the deck chair, with his legs crossed under him, he was like an animated Buddha venting a dark philosophy and seeking to undermine my mental balance with his sophistry. ...

— The Best Short Stories of 1920 - and the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various

... By what sophistry can rulers convince themselves that, while petit larceny is criminal, grand larceny is patriotic; that, while it is reprehensible for one man to kill another for his money, it is glorious for one nation to ...

— New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 4, July, 1915 - April-September, 1915 • Various

... constrained to shake our heads at the transparent sophistry of the plea, which requires no exposure. For Chaucer knew very well how to give life and colour to his page without recklessly disregarding bounds the neglect of which was even in his day offensive to many besides the "PRECIOUS folk" of whom he half derisively ...

— Chaucer • Adolphus William Ward

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