Protagoras

Platonis Opera, Tomus III: Tetralogia V-VII. Burnet, John, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.

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This work is a Socratic dialogue by Plato that explores whether human virtue (arete) can be taught and what its true nature is. The dialogue takes place at the house of Callias, where Socrates engages in an intellectual debate with Protagoras, a renowned Sophist visiting Athens. At the beginning, Protagoras argues that virtue is teachable, using a myth about the origin of humanity and examples of civic education, while Socrates doubts this by pointing out that virtuous leaders often fail to pass their virtue to their sons. The discussion then shifts to whether individual virtues such as justice, temperance, and courage are separate parts or essentially one with wisdom (sophia). In the latter half, Socrates demonstrates that "being overcome by pleasure" is actually a result of ignorance—a lack of the "art of measurement" regarding good and evil—and concludes that virtue is a form of knowledge. Ultimately, the dialogue ends with a humorous reversal: Socrates, who initially argued that virtue cannot be taught, ends up showing it is knowledge (which is teachable), while Protagoras, who claimed it can be taught, retreats from identifying it with knowledge, leaving the inquiry to be resumed another time.