Download This PaperThe storyline of Plato's Protagoras
33 Pages Posted: 12 May 2020 Last revised: 9 Jun 2021
Date Written: April 18, 2020
Abstract
In the first half of the dialogue, Socrates investigates Protagoras' moral principles. In the second half, the sophist utters a wise saying about ἀνδρεία, followed by Socrates unsaying the wise saying by replacing it with an alternative definition of ἀνδρεία. As Hippocrates intends to associate with Protagoras to acquire wisdom, the wise saying must be refuted and disappear lest Socrates lose his friendship, a relationship explicitly acknowledged at Prt. 313b1. Socrates' departure with the single companion with whom he came represents his success in overturning Protagoras' wise saying and preserving friendship with Hippocrates.
Keywords: Protagoras, andreia, Unity of the virtues, hedonic calculus
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