THE PROTAGORAS
In this text Plato explores through Socrates whether
virtue can be taught. Before Plato's time arete or virtue or excellence
was thought to be the birthright of the aristocracy. If you were born into the
aristocracy you possessed excellence. The argument was that good birth produced
good men who were superior to the less well born.
Plato lived during the period of Athenian democracy
when every man had responsibilities in war and politics and so arete
became a matter of personal reputation. Some people might possess arete
through prowess in war, others through speech making, and others through their
honourable life style which was termed sophrosyne.
There was no shortage of men who claimed to be able
to teach excellence. The sophist Protagoras was one of them. In this text
Plato explores Protagoras's claim that it is possible to teach virtue and to
improve the people he teaches. This is very similar to our modern concerns over
whether you can teach morals in schools and universities and whether you can
make people into better people through teaching.
THE ARGUMENT
The final claim of this text seems to be as follows:
If virtue is not knowledge, then it cannot be
taught.
If virtue is knowledge, it should be capable of
being taught.