Socrates' Response to Relativism

Question:  What was Socrates’ response to the sophists’ idea of relativism?

The sophists believed in the concept of relativism, which means, when applied to ethics, that what is moral to one person may be immoral to another person. This was the concept of subjective relativism. Conventional relativism means that what is moral to one culture may be immoral to another culture. However, what seems true to one culture, or person, is in fact true, relative to them. So in this way, both parties can be right at the same time. Therefore, the sophists concluded that a universal truth did not exist. Due to this lack of faith in an almighty truth, they decided not to bother spending their lives trying to find one. Instead, they learned to be successful in debates and business affairs. 

Socrates, however, responded to the sophists' idea of relativism by denying it entirely. He did believe in an almighty truth, and spent his life searching for the truths of the universe. He believed that the most important thing in life was to have a good, healthy soul, which one could maintain by living morally. He did not search for fortune or fame, but instead tried to attain as much knowledge and wisdom as possible in his lifetime. Unlike the sophists, who believed that there were no ultimate truths, Socrates felt that the main goal of life was to search for those ultimate truths and try to get as close to them as possible.