STRANGER: We were saying of him, if I am not mistaken, that he was a

disputer?

THEAETETUS: We were.

STRANGER: And does he not also teach others the art of disputation?

THEAETETUS: Certainly he does.

STRANGER: And about what does he profess that he teaches men to dispute?

To begin at the beginning--Does he make them able to dispute about

divine things, which are invisible to men in general?

THEAETETUS: At any rate, he is said to do so.

STRANGER: And what do you say of the visible things in heaven and earth,

and the like?

THEAETETUS: Certainly he disputes, and teaches to dispute about them.

STRANGER: Then, again, in private conversation, when any universal

assertion is made about generation and essence, we know that such

persons are tremendous argufiers, and are able to impart their own skill

to others.

Sophist