Virtue In Plato's 'Protagoras'

Plato’s “Protagoras” is a detailed discussion between Socrates and an acclaimed sophist, Protagoras, concerning what exactly constitutes virtue. Protagoras begins by maintaining that virtue consists of five elements, wisdom, temperance, courage, justice and holiness (24, 329d). Protagoras’s original claim is eventually diluted to say these aspects are interchangeable building blocks of virtue, and that courage alone is unique from all other elements of virtue (46, 349d). Socrates, on the other hand, attempts to argue that virtue is singular in nature and that courage is simply just another synonym for wisdom. In order to prove this argument, Socrates attempts to convince Protagoras of certain premises, which in return, lead to disrupting the foundation of …show more content…
Further, Protagoras has upheld the notion that some courageous men are not wise (24, 329e). As a result of this statement, Socrates first attempts to persuade Protagoras that those who are not wise and courageous are in fact actually bold. Socrates is trying to prove that people who are courageous have wisdom because this would simultaneously prove that courage and wisdom are the same thing, thus disproving Protagoras’s argument. Socrates begins by asserting that men who have knowledge of their craft have more confidence than others. For example, divers are the ones who dive confidently (46, 350a). Protagoras agrees with the concept that Socrates declared. Socrates then introduces the idea that men who lack knowledge in certain things are still confident in their ability to perform these things. Protagoras says that these men are not confident, but they are completely mad (47, 350b). Consequently, Socrates shows that men who lack knowledge and are still confident are in fact bold, not courageous, proving that courage and knowledge are intertwined (47,