Scribes: Marcela
Crowe and Leigh Cunningham
These
minutes were not spoken; for another version,
Protagoras represents a different
stage in the course because of the shift in the material with which we have to
read. We have a complete Platonic
dialogue, Protagoras, from which the Waterfield text uses certain isolated points as Testimonias.
We should think of Protagoras as the
first professional educator.
Although elementary education was well developed during
Protagoras’ time, he was the first to make a living educating people in
the higher arts, which we would now consider post-secondary education. A comparison was drawn between
Protagoras and Mick Jagger. They
are not only talented but clever businessmen as well.
In the case of Protagoras, he was
able to market himself by traveling around and giving speeches or seminars
about the content of the education he would provide. He charged a hundred minas which, to put in context, was a
hundred times the amount that Socrates felt he could pay as a fine in Apology.
Although not mentioned in the text,
the way in which Protagoras was probably able to charge a hundred minas was by
offering a money-back guarantee.
The enemies of Protagoras, however, would criticize such an offer
because it would always work to Protagoras’ advantage. For example, if the student won the
court case then this would prove that he had, in fact learned something from
Protagoras. If the student lost
the case then this would prove that the student was entitled to a refund
because he had not learned anything.
The content of the education that
Protagoras provided is considered abstract in general, but nonetheless has a
clear focus on language and the arts.
Not only was Protagoras the first professional, he was the first
professional of the humanities.
Unlike Plato, Protagoras did not think that mathematics was worth
studying. (T19)
Protagoras thought that
“literacy should be a matter for public concern and expense.”
(T17) This belief is not
necessarily consistent with his charging of fess, for public education did not
exist.
In T1, Protagoras is regarded as the
first person to use what we now know as “Socratic” method, and also
the first to argue “that there are two contradictory arguments about
everything,” in response to the argument of Antithenes, who maintained
that contradiction is impossible.
Protagoras can also be considered a
theoretical grammarian, as reflected in T14, where he is said to have made a
distinction between “the genders of words as masculine, feminine, and
neuter.” Also, in T1, language
is again the focus as Protagoras distinguished four kinds of speech: wishing,
asking, answering and commanding. There
are two contexts where exceptional oratory skills can place a person at an
advantage. The first context is
the area of merchandising and advertising, such as in public relations, as well
as for communications directors.
The second context is within the political domain, where discussing
common problem and persuading people around you are necessary in any direct or
representative democracy to ensure political success. In the case of Athens, a direct democracy, theoretically,
someone trained by Protagoras would have much power as a result of their
abilities in the art of persuasion.
Protagoras also taught his students to analyze language and to know the
proper context in which to present their argument.
Professor Hutchinson mentioned that
we are like-minded with Protagoras, in that we believe that studying humanities
enhances a student’s thinking ability and the skill of persuasion. Although Professor Hutchinson considers
Plato a hostile source because he gently ridicules Protagoras and calls him a
Sophist, Professor Hutchinson feels that for him to criticize would be
hypocritical. Hutchinson maintains
that modern universities are a fusion between two ancient philosophical
traditions: Protagorean and Platonic.
We are indebted to the Protagorean tradition for its emphasis on the
humanities, whereas we are indebted to the Platonic tradition for its emphasis
on abstract, mathematical modes of thinking. Furthermore, private education finds its origin in
Protagoras and free public education from Plato. For instance, the institution of higher learning known as
The Academy, founded by Plato, was free of charge.
A criticism that Socrates puts forth
against the Sophists is seen in a dialogue by Xenophon (I.6) where Socrates is
criticized for being so clever but without any sensibility, upon which Socrates
replied that we have a word for people who sleep with anybody for money. In this way, Socrates accuses Sophists
of being intellectual prostitutes.
In the Protagoras, Socrates
has a testy relationship with Protagoras.
Socrates is very skeptical of Protagoras’ teaching methods and the
two exchange verbal assaults, each winning points. The main question in the dialogue is whether virtue can be
taught, as Protagoras claims.
However, there is not a conclusion and scholars have debated greatly
about the answer. Ultimately, Protagoras
is a sympathetic portrayal of Protagoras.
T12 (and Plato’s Protagoras
starting at 320d) is the persuasive myth about the creation of different
species including men. According
to the myth, everyone has virtue.
The benefit of living in a civilization is that a person is socialized
with norms and, with training and education, a person can develop their skills
and become experts. Professor
Hutchinson says that some people do develop authority and they give off an
authoritative impression. The
professor’s example was Trudeau at a lecture at Oxford in 1977. This authoritative quality is what
Protagoras is trying to teach, however, it is most likely a combination of
background and education.
The lecture concluded with the
definition of a sophist. A sophist
is an “expert maker” or “expertizer.” Philosophia means the ‘love of wisdom’. Sophist is the root of words like
sophisticated and sophomore.
Sophomore means a mixture of “bright and
stupid/moronic.”