Platos Protagoras Essays on the Confrontation of Philosophy and Sophistry [Paperback]

This book presents a thorough study and an up to date anthology of Platos Protagoras. International authors' papers contribute to the task of understanding how Plato introduced and negotiated a new type of intellectual practice  called philosophy  and the strategies that this involved. They explore Platos dialogue, looking at questions of how philosophy and sophistry relate, both on a methodological and on a thematic level.

While many of the contributing authors argue for a sharp distinction between sophistry and philosophy, this is contested by others. Readers may consider the distinctions between philosophy and traditional forms of poetry and sophistry through these papers. Questions for readers' attention include: To what extent is Socrates preferred mode of discourse, and his short questions and answers, superior to Protagoras method of sophistic teaching? And why does Plato make Socrates and Protagoras reverse positions as it comes to virtue and its teachability?

This book will appeal to graduates and researchers with an interest in the origins of philosophy, classical philosophy and historical philosophy.

 

Introduction.- Chapter 1. Hallvard Fossheim: The Question of Methodology in Plato's Protagoras .- Chapter 2. Knut ?gotnes:?Socrates Sophisticated Attack on Protagoras.- Chapter 3. Hayden W. Ausland:?The Treatment of Virtue in Platos?Protagoras.- Chapter 4. Jens Kristian Larsen:?By What Is the Soul Nourished? On the Art of the Physician of Souls in Platos Protagoras.- Chapter 5. Vivil Valvik Haraldsen:?Is Pleasure Any Good? Weakness of Will and the Art of Measurement in Plato's Protagoras.- Chapter 6. Cynthia Freeland: The Science of Measuring Pleasure and Pain .- ChlS$