Dialogues · Chapter
Protagoras explained
Socrates recounts his encounter with the famous sophist Protagoras, engaging in a dialectical debate about the nature of virtue, whether it can be taught, and the unity of the virtues.
What happens
Socrates recounts his encounter with the famous sophist Protagoras, engaging in a dialectical debate about the nature of virtue, whether it can be taught, and the unity of the virtues. The dialogue explores the relationship between knowledge, pleasure, and the good life, culminating in a reversal of positions where Socrates argues that courage is a form of wisdom.
Themes in this chapter
Education and Virtue
The central debate of the dialogue: whether virtue can be taught and what role education plays in moral development.
Knowledge and Ignorance
Socrates argues that virtue is a form of knowledge, and ignorance is the root of wrongdoing, challenging Protagoras' hedonistic calculus.
Characters to notice
- Socrates
The main interlocutor who challenges Protagoras on the teachability of virtue and the unity of the virtues.
- Protagoras
The renowned sophist who defends his profession and engages in a dialectical exchange with Socrates.
- Hippocrates
A young Athenian who eagerly seeks to become a student of Protagoras.
- Callicles
Present as a host and observer of the debate between Socrates and Protagoras.
- Alcibiades
Mentioned as being present and participating in the discussion.
Key passages
“I would rather have my string broken and my lyre unstrung and discordant, than that I should be at variance with myself, and contradict myself.”
Socrates values internal consistency and integrity above all, preferring to be out of tune with his instrument than with his own soul.
Highlights Socrates' commitment to intellectual honesty and self-consistency.
“Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not.”
Protagoras asserts that human perception and judgment are the ultimate standard of truth and reality.
A famous statement of Protagorean relativism, central to the epistemological debate of the dialogue.