Protagoras and Meno by Plato & Beresford Adam

Author:Plato & Beresford, Adam [Plato & Beresford, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Non-Fiction, Philosophy, Classics
ISBN: 9781101489109
Amazon: 0140449035
Goodreads: 10798481
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Published: 2024-08-24T12:09:36+00:00

‘You really mustn't think,’ I said, ‘that I have any aim in asking you all these questions beyond a simple desire to investigate; to investigate all aspects of being good, especially what on earth being good exactly is. And that's because I'm sure that getting clear on that would be the best way to get to the bottom of the [361 a] problem you and I have had this long, drawn-out discussion over – whether or not being good is something people can be taught – with me claiming it isn't and you claiming it is.

‘And, if you ask me, the point we've ended up at in our discussion is like a person scolding us and laughing at us; and if our Ending could somehow speak to us, she'd be saying, “Protagoras and Socrates! You two guys are so silly! You, Socrates, earlier on, were claiming that you can't make people good by teaching them, and now you're determined to contradict yourself. You're trying to prove that everything – doing [b] what's right, being sensible, being brave – the whole lot of them – that they're all just a matter of knowledge; which is exactly the way to make it seem that being good is something you can be taught. (After all, if being good were something other than a kind of knowledge, the claim Protagoras is trying to argue for, then obviously it wouldn't be something teachable. But if it's really going to turn out to be entirely a matter of knowledge, the line you're pushing for, Socrates, it'll be totally amazing if it can't be taught.) And you, Protagoras, you started off by claiming it could be taught, and now you're saying the complete opposite; you seem desperate for it to turn out to be practically anything but knowledge, which is just the way to make it look [c] as unteachable as possible.”

‘Now, personally, Protagoras, when I realize that everything's going all topsy-turvy like this and winding up in this hopeless mess, I find myself really anxious to get to the bottom of it all; and I'd very much like for us to run through these questions carefully, come to some understanding of exactly what it is to be a good person, and then go back and have another go at figuring out whether or not it's something that can be taught – otherwise I'm worried our old friend Thinxtoolate [d] may just go on and on duping us, and tripping us up in our investigations – just as he forgot about us, according to you, when he was handing things out. Now I liked Thinxahead much more than Thinxtoolate in your story; and it's because I'm using him as my role-model and trying to think ahead, carefully, about the whole future course of my life that I take so much trouble over these things – and if you'd like to, as I said back at the start, it would be a real pleasure to have a thorough look into these things with you.

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