Protagoras (dialogue)
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| Image:Plato-raphael.jpg |
| This article is part of the series: The Dialogues of Plato |
| Socratic Dialogues : Socrates, |
| Hippias Minor |
| First Alcibiades |
| Euthyphro |
| Laches – Charmides |
| Lysis – Hippias Major – Ion |
| Protagoras – Euthydemus |
| Gorgias – Menexenus |
| Meno – Critias |
| Apology |
| Crito – Cratylus |
| The great dialogues : theory of forms,
politics, death, dialectic, love. |
| Phaedo – The Symposium |
| The Republic – Phaedrus |
| The late dialogues :
Criticism of the theory of forms, cosmology, politics, metaphysics |
| Theaetetus – Parmenides |
| The Sophist – Philebus |
| The Statesman – Timaeus |
| Laws |
| Of doubtful authenticity |
| Second Alcibiades – The Rivals |
| Theages – Epinomis – Minos |
| Clitophon |
Protagoras is one of Plato's minor dialogues. The main argument is between Protagoras, a wealthy and prominent sophist, and Socrates. The discussion takes place at the home of Callias, who is host to Protagoras while he is in town, and concerns a familiar theme in the dialogs: the teachability of virtue. The dialog is perhaps most remarkable for the sheer number of people said to be in attendance: a total of twenty one people are named as present.
Contents |
[edit] The Characters
Of the twenty one people who are specifically said to be present, three are famous sophists. In addition to Protagoras himself, there are Hippias of Elis, and Prodicus of Ceos. Two of the sons of Pericles are said to be there, Paralus and Xanthippus. With the exception of Aristophanes, all of Socrates' named friends from the Symposium are in attendance: Eryximachus the doctor, and Phaedrus are there, and so are the lovers Pausanias and Agathon (who is said to be a mere boy at this point), and Alcibiades. Not part of the official head-count are unnamed (and unnumbered) foreigners who Protagoras is said to have picked up in his travels and a servant (an eunuch) in the employ of Callias.
The company in attendance links this dialog not only with the Symposium, but also with the Apology. The gathering is at the home of Callias, the man who Socrates disparages in the Apology as having wasted a good deal of money on over-priced, arrogant sophists. Two of the honored guests, Prodicus and Hippias, are men Socrates mentioned in the Apology as examples of intellectual pretentiousness.
Twenty-one is a significant number, because it is a triple multiple of seven, which Greek tradition holds as the traditional number of wise men: Thales, Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Cleobulus, Myson, and Chilon (Protag. 343a).
[edit] Prelude to the Argument
The dialog begins with an unnamed friend of Socrates asking him how his pursuit of the young Alcibiades, just now reputed to be getting the beard, was proceeding. Socrates says, "What of it?" He explains that while he has just been in the company of Alcibiades, his mind is now on more interesting matters. He says that Protagoras, the wisest man alive, is in town. Socrates relates the story of how his young friend, Hippocrates, son of Apollodorus, came knocking on his door before daybreak and rousted him out of bed. Hippocrates was in a big hurry to be present when Protagoras held court, as he was expected to do, at the home of Callias.
This gathering of sophists has multigenerational implications. Socrates is presently associating with Hippocrates who is son Apollodorus, who, when he was himself a young disciple of Socrates, recites the Symposium to Glaucon. Glaucon's own son Charmides, is also present now at the home of Callias. Socrates warns Hippocrates that sophists are dangerous. He tells him that the words of the sophists go straight into the mind ("psyche") and can corrupt a person straightaway.
Socrates says that buying wisdom from a sophist is different from buying food and drink at the market. With food and drink, you can take expert advice before consuming anything that might be dangerous (313a-314c). This advice, while it falls on deaf ears, also comes out of an equivocating mouth. Socrates says he regards Prodicus as a man of inspired genius (316a) and in the Theaetetus (151b), he says he has arranged "love matches" between Prodicus and several boys who wanted to become wiser.
Socrates accompanies Hippocrates to the home of Callias, and as they were standing of the doorway of the house, the eunuch doorman, apparently overheard them and Socrates guesses, was in a bad temper. The eunuch opened the door, took one look at them, and guessed they were sophists, and slammed the door in their faces (314d). They knocked again, and this time assured the porter they were not sophists, but only wanted to visit with Protagoras. The porter let them in, and at this point, Socrates recites the list of guests.
[edit] Prodicus is Wrestled out of Bed
Protagoras does not deny being a sophist, and claims that it is an ancient and honorable art, the same art practiced by Homer and Hesiod. These poets, he says, used the arts as a screen, a front, to protect themselves from the charge. he says that he is better than the ancient artists, trainers, and musicians in frankly admitting that he is an educator. Protagoras says he is old enough now to be the father of any of the men present, and would like now to address himself to the whole company of people in the house. Socrates assumed that Prodicus would not want to miss the lecture, and so Callias and Alcibiades were sent to roust him out of his bed (317c-e). Earlier, Socrates noted that Prodicus was occupying a room in the house that had been used for storage, but had been temporarily cleared out for use as a guestroom (315d).
[edit] Protagoras Makes his Case
Protagoras begins his speechmaking with the proclamation that a good sophist can make his students into good citizens. Socrates says this is fine and good, but that he personally thinks that virtue cannot be taught (319b). He adds that technical thinking can be imparted to students by teachers, but that wisdom cannot be. By way of example, Socrates says that Pericles did not manage to impart his wisdom to his sons (319e). These men, who are presumably present at this conversation, do not defend themselves. He says that Clinias, younger brother of Alcibiades, was taken from the family for fear that Alcibiades would corrupt him, and he was given back as a hopeless case. Socrates says he could multiply examples, but thinks his point is sufficiently established. It might be noted here that in the Meno Socrates says the same thing about the sons of Pericles, that they are inferior to their father (Meno 94a,b)
Protagoras says his claim that virtue can be taught is better made by a story than by reasoned arguments, and he tells a fable about the origins of living things. He says that Epimetheus (whose name means "Afterthought") was assigned the task of passing out the assets for survival, forgot to give mankind anything so his twin brother Prometheus (whose name means "Forethought") stole fire and the arts for man. Men figured out that their best chance for survival depends on social co-operation, and thus all have been granted a share of justice and civic virtue. Protagoras that he has two good pieces of evidence that people agree with him. First, people do not rebuke the ugly, dwarfish, and weak, but pity them, because they cannot help being as they are (323d). Second, they do instruct people who are unjust and irreligious, hoping to impart goodness in them. He says that parents begin with their children from earliest childhood, and teachers carry on the task. Protagoras wraps it up by saying that none of this is surprising, but what would be surprising is if this were not the case (326e).
[edit] Socrates' Rebuttal
Socrates complains that Protagoras is long-winded, like a gong that booms when you strike it and won't stop until you lay a hand on it. Socrates then peppers Protagoras with questions aimed at the problem of whether virtue is one thing or many, like the parts of a face (329d). Protagoras begins to bristle at this. Socrates says that their styles are opposite. He personally doesn't like long-winded speeches like the one Protagoras just delivered, because he is forgetful and cannot follow the train of thought (334d), and Protagoras does not like to be peppered with questions that seem to lead them off track. Socrates gets up to leave, grousing that companionable talk is one thing and public speaking another (336b). Finally, the men agree to compromise their styles so the discussion can continue.
The conversation then takes several digressions. First they analyze some poetry, and discuss the difference between being and becoming, and then Socrates praises the Spartans as the best people in the world at concealing their sophistical skills. He says you might think Spartans are unimpressive speakers, but just at the right moment, they can fire off a smart remark (342e). He adds that Laconic brevity was the earliest characteristic of philosophy (343b). Socrates finally bring the conversation around to whether virtue is knowledge. He tries to establish that virtue is connected to knowledge of wise choices in pleasure and pain. Wrong choices, that is to say, ignorance, in these matters lead to evildoing (357c-358d).
Socrates draws the conclusion of the discussion of the debate: that Socrates and Protagoras are an absurd pair (361a). He says by way of explanation that Socrates began by saying that virtue is not teachable, and then tried to show that virtue is knowledge, in which case it is teachable, and that Protagoras, who tried to argue that knowledge is teachable, wanted to argue that it is not knowledge, in which case virtue would not be teachable. Each man shoots himself in the foot when virtue becomes a matter of cognition/knowledge.
[edit] Subtextual Interpretation
This dialog finds Socrates with his friends from the Symposium and deeply "in bed" with sophistry. His being rousted from bed at the beginning of the dialogue parallels Prodicus' being rousted a bit later from his bed in the closet. Socrates warns his disciple Hippocrates against sophistry, but then behaves like one. Socrates is mistaken for a sophist by the eunuch at the door, and then argues like a sophist with Protagoras. Neither man seems to realize that virtue does not have to be cognitive in order to be taught. Protagoras not only makes no objection to Socrates' conclusion, which makes hash of his life-long career in less than an hour's conversation, he also praises Socrates' debating skills to the skies (361e).
Socrates' analogy between food and ideas self-sabotage. While ideas are surely food for the mind, they can be sifted for impurities before they are ingested/believed. It is food and drink which are absorbed directly and can make a person sick. The analogy works in one respect, but in the respect that matters, the analogy undermines his point.
Aristotle easily renders this debate insignificant with his common sense approach to the question. He argues in his Nichomachean Ethics the obvious point that good habits are instilled by parents into their children. While the method is not flawless, conscientious parenting arguably produces relatively decent people most of the time.
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