Socrates was sentenced to death on charges of impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. Many Athenians felt there was no difference between the philosophy Socrates practiced and the work of the sophists, who would argue any case for the right fee and taught their deceptive rhetorical techniques to the elite of the city. But according to his student, Plato, Socrates cared about the truth. He would say that the best use of rhetoric was against oneself, whereas using it to deceive others would...
