Protagoras, a Sophist of fifth century BCE Greece, may be most famous (or infamous) for this dictum: “Man is the measure of all things.” But as Protagoras, the eponymous character in Plato’s dialogue, he hangs his reputation on his ability to teach politike techne, which may be translated as the political art or even civic virtue. Plato’s Protagoras is a self-proclaimed forefather of civic education.

What is the relationship between sophistry and civic education? Is virtue able to be taught? Is there truly an art to politics or a science of politics? These questions receive a rich and complex treatment from Protagoras and Socrates as they debate one another before the most politically promising youths of Athens. Accordingly, this seminar will attend to both the arguments and action of the dialogue in pursuit of these questions.

Image: Temple of Apollo Epikourios, Bassae, details of a Corinthian isolated column in the interior, 1860

A Hertog Conversation with Mary Townsend on Plato's Protagoras

This course is offered by Humanities at Hertog. It takes place weekly on Wednesdays, via Zoom, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM ET. Fellows will receive a $150 Amazon Bookshelf voucher contingent upon participation in the course and completion of a brief response paper. All course materials will be provided.

Faculty

Mary Townsend

Mary Townsend is an associate professor of philosophy at St. John’s University, Queens, NY. Her 2017 book, The Woman Question in Plato’s Republic was named required reading by University of Pennsylvania’s Emily Wilson, translator of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and her academic work on Plato, Beauvoir, and the American abolitionist Julia Ward Howe has appeared in Hypatia, Polis, and Social Philosophy Today.

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Preview the Syllabus by Week/Session

Readings:

  • Protagoras 309 a-317e

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why does Hippocrates ask for Socrates’ help, Socrates in particular, and why does Hippocrates both want to learn from Protagoras but blushes at the idea of becoming a sophist?
  2. Is it possible to remain an amateur sophist, as Hippocrates hopes for, at 312b?
  3. Is Protagoras’ plan to state forthrightly that he is a sophist a good one?

Readings:

  • Protagoras 317e-328d

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why does Protagoras insist his students will learn nothing other than the political art, and is his definition the kind of thing likely to appeal to Hippocrates?
  2. Does Protagoras’ argument that, contra Socrates, the city does teach virtue, leave any room for his own art to flourish?
  3. Why does Protagoras include the argument that anyone who does not pretend to possess justice is mad (322b)?

Readings:

  • Protagoras 328d-338e

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why does Socrates choose as his point of attack the notion that virtue is some one thing (329c), and how does this relate to Protagoras’ claims from the myth?
  2. What is at stake if the contrary of both moderation and wisdom turns out to be foolishness (333b)?
  3. Why is Protagoras unwilling to continue to speak with Socrates using “brief” speeches? (335a)

Readings:

  • Protagoras 338e-347b

Discussion Questions:

  1. What have we learned about Prodicus and Hippias so far, and why do they intervene here?
  2. What is at stake in Socrates’ insistence that “to become” is different from “to be” at 340b?
  3. Why does Socrates claim that the poet Simonides often felt compelled to praise the injustice of the tyrant and the fatherland (346b)?

Readings:

  • Protagoras 347b-354e

Discussion Questions:

  1. How and why do Socrates and the rest of those present get Protagoras to continue the conversation?
  2. Why does Protagoras think courage is different from the rest of the virtues, and does Protagoras admire courage or not?
  3. What is Protagoras’ attachment to the notion of pleasure as the good, and does he care more about pleasure or excellence?

Readings:

  • Protagoras 354e – The end

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why does Socrates claim that Protagoras will not be able to name some other end for the human being than pleasure?
  2. Is “measuring” an adequate description for the kind of virtue Protagoras promises the youth with his sophistical art?
  3. Socrates is accused of loving victory by Protagoras in his final conclusion—does Socrates win a kind of victory, or what has really happened by the end of this argument? Have we learned what sophistry is? Is Socrates’ way of arguing more appealing than Protagoras’, or not?

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Robert C. Bartlett

Robert C. Bartlett is the Behrakis Professor of Hellenic Political Studies at Boston College. His principal area of research is classical political philosophy, with particular attention to the thinkers of ancient Hellas, including Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle. He is the co-translator of a new edition of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.

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Mary P. Nichols

Mary P. Nichols is Professor Emerita of Political Science at Baylor University. She is author of Thucydides and the Pursuit of Freedom, and Socrates on Friendship and Community: Reflections on Plato’s Symposium, Phaedrus, and Lysis. She has delivered lectures on ancient political theory, Shakespeare, and film.