William Howard Taft is fat

glennmagusharvey

No wonder he was more influential on the bench than at his desk.

Manly McMacho

Sredni Vashtar

He was also very tall. Taft was a very large man in many senses of the word. He was also a far better president and a much more intriguing person than people give him credit for.

Tre

Corporal Forsythe

Taft spelled backwards is FATT

glennmagusharvey

noit'snot

Salix Babylonika

Corporal Forsythe said:

Taft spelled backwards is FATT

actually it's T-Fat.

Which coincidentally, is Taft's rap name when he rhymes with Dipset.

Manly McMacho

Salix Babylonika

this was a productive usage of my time.

Misery

yes i got the joke

Salix Babylonika

?????????

Manly McMacho

Mojave Music said:

this was a productive usage of my time.

I'm sure it was

Anonus

The WTVN stations in Columbus, as well as Hanna-Barbera Productions and Ruby-Spears Enterprises, were once owned by members of his family

You needed to know this

glennmagusharvey

So President Taft was involved in giving us the Mega Man cartoon?

ProfessorGator

Oh no! He's gonna blast President Taft!

Anonus

^^Tangentially, yes

Let us not forget those waves of Scooby-Doo clones

Salix Babylonika

glennmagusharvey said:

So President Taft was involved in giving us the Mega Man cartoon?

I'm not sorry.

Anonus

well HOW ABOUT THIS:

:P

Anonus

Dalmatians kill threads

Manly McMacho

uguhje

Tachyon

I BRING LIFE

Anonus

You replaced two heads

Eh, I guess the heart of the TARDIS lets you flout the unwritten rules

Salix Babylonika

ITT: Cam'Ron is lonely

Tachyon

i travelled back in time to give Lana her face back.

Salix Babylonika

Lana del Ray's visage now makes me want to punch things.

Manly McMacho

^^^^But he didn't- nevermind.

:C

^DO IT

Anonus

Oh derp, I didn't even notice McMacho's edit

Manly McMacho

YOU WOULDN'T, WOULD YOU. I DON'T MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU, DO I?

Anonus

But of course you do!

Manly McMacho

...Really? *sniffle*

Obā-san

The Greek word sophos, or sophia, has had the meaning "wise" or "wisdom" since the time of the poet Homer and originally was used to describe anyone with expertise in a specific domain of knowledge or craft. For example, a charioteer, a sculptor or a warrior could be described as sophoi in their occupations. Gradually, however, the word also came to denote general wisdom and especially wisdom about human affairs (for example, in politics, ethics, or household management). This was the meaning ascribed to the Greek Seven Sages of 7th and 6th century BC (like Solon and Thales), and it was the meaning that appeared in the histories of Herodotus. Richard Martin refers to the seven sages as "performers of political poetry."[1]

In the second half of the 5th century BC, particularly at Athens, "sophist" came to denote a class of mostly itinerant intellectuals who taught courses in various subjects, speculated about the nature of language and culture and employed rhetoric to achieve their purposes, generally to persuade or convince others: "Sophists did, however, have one important thing in common: whatever else they did or did not claim to know, they characteristically had a great understanding of what words would entertain or impress or persuade an audience."[1] A few sophists claimed that they could find the answers to all questions. Most of these sophists are known today primarily through the writings of their opponents (specifically Plato and Aristotle), which makes it difficult to assemble an unbiased view of their practices and beliefs.

Many of them taught their skills for a price. Due to the importance of such skills in the litigious social life of Athens, practitioners often commanded very high fees. The sophists' practice of questioning the existence and roles of traditional deities and investigating into the nature of the heavens and the earth prompted a popular reaction against them. The attacks of some of their followers against Socrates prompted a vigorous condemnation from his followers, including Plato and Xenophon, as there was a popular view of Socrates as a sophist.[2] Their attitude, coupled with the wealth garnered by many of the sophists, eventually led to popular resentment against sophist practitioners and the ideas and writings associated with sophism.

Protagoras is generally regarded as the first of the sophists. Others include Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias, Thrasymachus, Lycophron, Callicles, Antiphon, and Cratylus.

In comparison, Socrates accepted no fee, instead professed a self-effacing posture, which he exemplified by Socratic questioning (i.e. the Socratic method, although Diogenes Laertius wrote that Protagoras — a sophist — invented the "Socratic" method[3][4]). His attitude towards the Sophists was by no means oppositional; in one dialogue Socrates even stated that the Sophists were better educators than he was,[5] which he validated by sending one of his students to study under a sophist.[6] W. K. C. Guthrie classified Socrates as a Sophist in his History of Greek Philosophy.[6]

Plato, the most famous student of Socrates, depicts Socrates as refuting some sophists in several Dialogues. These texts depict the sophists in an unflattering light, and it is unclear how accurate or fair Plato's representation of them may be; however, Protagoras and Prodicus are portrayed in a largely positive light in Protagoras (dialogue). Another contemporary, the comic playwright Aristophanes, criticizes the sophists as hairsplitting wordsmiths, and makes Socrates their representative.

Plato is largely responsible for the modern view of the "sophist" as a greedy instructor who uses rhetorical sleight-of-hand and ambiguities of language in order to deceive, or to support fallacious reasoning. In this view, the sophist is not concerned with truth and justice, but instead seeks power. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all challenged the philosophical foundations of sophism.

Some scholars, such as Ugo Zilioli[7] argue that the sophists held a relativistic view on cognition and knowledge. However, this may involve the Greek word "doxa," which means "culturally shared belief" rather than "individual opinion." Their philosophy contains criticism of religion, law, and ethics. Though many sophists were apparently as religious as their contemporaries, some held atheistic or agnostic views (for example, Protagoras and Diagoras of Melos).

In some cases, such as Gorgias, there are original rhetorical works that are fortunately extant, allowing the author to be judged on his own terms. In most cases, however, knowledge of sophist thought comes from fragmentary quotations that lack context. Many of these quotations come from Aristotle, who seems to have held the sophists in slight regard.

From the late 1st century AC the Second Sophistic, a philosophical and rhetorical movement, was the chief expression of intellectual life.The term "Second Sophistic" comes from Philostratos, who rejecting the term "New Sophistic" traced the beginnings of the movement to the orator Aeschines in the 4th century BC. But its earliest representative was really Nicetas of Smyrna, in the late 1st century AD. Unlike the original Sophistic movement of the 5th century BC, the Second Sophistic was little concerned with politics. But it was, to a large degree, to meet the everyday needs and respond to the practical problems of Graeco-Roman society. It came to dominate higher education and left its mark on many forms of literature.

Owing largely to the influence of Plato and Aristotle, philosophy came to be regarded as distinct from sophistry, the latter being regarded as specious and rhetorical, a practical discipline. Thus, by the time of the Roman Empire, a sophist was simply a teacher of rhetoric and a popular public speaker. For instance, Libanius, Himerius, Aelius Aristides, and Fronto were sophists in this sense.

Justice4243

Manly McMacho said:

THANK GOD THE ARTIST WROTE "MY POLICIES" ON THAT STAFF, OTHERWISE THE JOKE WOULD HAVE GONE RIGHT OVER MY HEAD.

ALSO, TEDDY HAD A FALLING OUT WITH TAFT SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE TAFT DIDN'T DO EVERYTHING THE WAY TEDDY LIKED. WAY TO BE PROVEN WRONG BY HISTORY, ASS!

Manly McMacho

FUCK YEAR