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Plato's Protagoras, Part 2: Is Virtue One Thing or Many?

Plato's Protagoras, Part 2: Is Virtue One Thing or Many?

FromPlato's Pod: Dialogues on the works of Plato


Plato's Protagoras, Part 2: Is Virtue One Thing or Many?

FromPlato's Pod: Dialogues on the works of Plato

ratings:
Length:
113 minutes
Released:
Mar 24, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Is there a first principle of virtue? If virtue is knowledge that can be taught, does the teacher need to know the limits of virtue as a single thing - or does virtue consist of a range of attributes, each with different limits that are somehow connected? These and more questions on the nature of virtue were the subject of discussion on March 12, 2023 among members of the Toronto, Calgary, and Chicago Philosophy Meetup groups. In considering the dialogue between Socrates and Protagoras, the former holding that virtue is unteachable and the latter claiming qualifications as its teacher, some felt that Socrates established unfair advantage over the sophist with words and leading questions. Is virtue a matter of social conventions, and has Socrates met his match? At one point even Socrates questions his own abilities, as he attempts to demonstrate flaws in the knowledge claimed by Protagoras. Or, is virtue knowable only through a process of dialectic, if all knowledge is recollection as Socrates stated in the Meno? We will attempt to reach some conclusions, and maybe even define the thing that we call virtue, in two weeks' time in our final session on Plato's Protagoras.
Released:
Mar 24, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (59)

Welcome to Plato's Pod, a bi-weekly podcast of a group discussion on the dialogues of Plato. The discussion is held through Meetup.com by the Toronto Philosophy and Calgary Philosophy groups and anyone interested in participating, whether to learn about Plato or to contribute to the dialogue, is welcome to join with no experience required! The podcast is hosted by amateur philosopher James Myers and inquiries can be e-mailed to dialoguesonplato@outlook.com. Wherever we go in our discussions we gain knowledge from each other’s perspectives, and for the increase in knowledge we invite everyone to add their voice to the dialogue. Plato, without a doubt, would have imagined no better way than in dialogue for knowledge – the account of the reasons why – to find its home.