The political thought of the Sophists in the work of Rousseau

Abstract

This article examines the significant influence of ancient Sophist political philosophy on the work of the French Enlightenment thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The author argues that despite Plato's historically biased and negative portrayal of the Sophists, their intellectual movement in 5th-century BC Athens laid the groundwork for modern concepts of social and political institutions . Specifically, the study highlights how Rousseau’s The Social Contract echoes the views of the Sophist Lycophron, who defined the law as a "covenant" (syntheke)—a legal agreement that guarantees the rights of citizens. The analysis explores the central Sophist distinction between nature (physis) and positive law (nomos), a framework Rousseau revived to critique how civilized society alienates man from his natural state . Furthermore, the paper compares the Protagorean myth of human survival through technical wisdom and social organization with Rousseau's theory on the origins of social inequality and the transition from natural individuals to self-legislating citizens.