When truth must compete
April 4, 2026
by Dudley McLean II - Contributor
When truth must compete
In a recent article published in The Telegraph, Elise Morrison revisits an ancient anxiety with striking contemporary force: the tension between truth and persuasion. Reflecting on the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BC, she contrasts his relentless pursuit of truth with the rhetorical dexterity of the Sophists, whose primary aim was not to discover what is true but to convince others of what appears to be so. Her warning is clear: modern society is drifting toward Sophistry, where performance eclipses reality.