Gadfly (social)

Gadfly (social)

"Gadfly" is a term for people who upset the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or attempt to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant.

The term "gadfly" (Gk. "muopa") [See cite web | url = http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0068&query=id%3D%231747 | title = George W. Mooney's Commentary on Apollonius: Argonautica] was used by Plato in the "Apology" [cite web | url = http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0170;query=section%3D%23139;layout=;loc=Apol.%2030d | title = Apology 30e] to describe Socrates' relationship of uncomfortable goad to the Athenian political scene, which he compared to a slow and dimwitted horse. The Bible also references the gadfly in terms of political influence; The Book of Jeremiah (46:20, Darby Bible) states "Egypt is a very fair heifer; the gad-fly cometh, it cometh from the north." The term has been used to describe many politicians and social commentators; in modern Hebrew, which knows many more idioms than those used by Jeremiah, gadfly is "mekhapes pagam" literally "fault finder".

During his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's writings, pointed out that dissent, like the tiny (relative to the size of a horse) gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high. "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me," because his role was that of a gadfly, "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth"."

In modern and local politics, gadfly is a term used to describe someone who persistently challenges people in positions of power, the status quo or a popular position.cite news |first=Jennifer |last=Liberto |title=Publix uses law to boot gadfly |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/08/State/Publix_uses_law_to_bo.shtml |work=St. Petersburg Times |date=2007-08-08 |accessdate=2008-06-22 ] The word may be uttered in a pejorative sense, while at the same time be accepted as a description of honorable work or civic duty.cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2334197&clip=1 |title=The Gadfly |accessdate=2008-06-22 |work=BBC - h2g2 |date=2004-10-06 ]

ee also

*Deconstruction
*Gadfly (mythology)

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gadfly — can refer to: *Gadfly, a type of fly typically belonging to either the family Tabanidae (Horse fly) or Oestridae (Botfly) *Gadfly (social), a term for people who upset the status quo *Gadfly (database), a relational database in the Python… …   Wikipedia

  • David F. Noble — For other uses of the name David Noble, please see David Noble (disambiguation) David F. Noble Summer 2010, Toronto. Born July 22, 1945(1945 07 22) New York City …   Wikipedia

  • Marvin Olasky — (born June 12, 1950) is editor in chief of WORLD Magazine, the author of more than 20 books, including The Tragedy of American Compassion, and Distinguished Chair in Journalism and Public Policy at Patrick Henry College. He is married to writer… …   Wikipedia

  • Roger Nash — BA, MA, PhD (Exon) is a Canadian philosopher and poet. He was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England on November 3, 1942. He grew up in England, Egypt, Cyprus, Singapore and Hong Kong. He has a B.A. from the University of Wales (1965), an M.A.… …   Wikipedia

  • Socrates — Infobox Philosopher region = Western Philosophy era = Ancient philosophy color = #B0C4DE image caption = Socrates name = (Polytonic|Σωκράτης) birth = c. 469 / 470 BCcite web url = http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Socrates %28philosopher%29… …   Wikipedia

  • Columbia University — For other uses, see Columbia University (disambiguation). Columbia University in the City of New York …   Wikipedia

  • Овод (роман) — У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. Овод. Обложка первого издания 1897 года «Овод» (англ. The Gadfly)  революционно романтичес …   Википедия

  • Carma Hinton — (born 1949) is a documentary filmmaker and Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Visual Culture and Chinese Studies at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia, United States. [cite web |url= http://gazette.gmu.edu/articles/7524/|title=… …   Wikipedia

  • Trial of Socrates — The Death of Socrates, by Jacques Louis David (1787) …   Wikipedia

  • Manhattan Institute for Policy Research — Motto Turning Intellect into Influence Formation 1978 Type Public …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”