The
Sophist (; ) is a Platonic dialogue from the philosopher's late period, most likely written in 360 BC. Its main theme is to identify what a
sophist is and how a sophist differs from a
philosopher and . Because each seems distinguished by a particular form of knowledge, the dialogue continues some of the lines of inquiry pursued in the
epistemological dialogue,
Theaetetus, which is said to have taken place the day before. Because the
Sophist treats these matters, it is often taken to shed light on
Plato's
Theory of Forms and is compared with the
Parmenides, which criticized what is often taken to be the theory of forms.