At dinner last night in Nashville with AKMA and Vanderbilt’s John Rakestraw, Peter and Chip (sorry about not getting the last names) when I used the term “sophistry” in a disparaging way, AKMA offered that he likes the Sophists. If you know AKMA well enough to spell his name, you know he couldn’t mean that he likes those who are paid to teach people how to be persuasive on any side of an issue regardless of the truth of the matter, which is the picture of the Sophists we get from Plato. Or, perhaps in some post-Modern way that’s exactly what AKMA believes. AKMA is full of surprises.

Unfortunately, our dinner conversation shifted away from the topic. So, now I’m eager to hear AKMA’s defense of sophistry. And, in the spirit of being mindlessly and ironically provocative, I issue the following debate topic:

Resolved: Blogging is the triumph of sophism.

Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to a day of conversation with AKMA and Vanderbiltians about blogging, the Internet and teaching.

Categories: Uncategorized dw