Was Protagoras correct when he asserts that virtue can be taught?
Was Socrates correct when he asserts that virtue CANNOT be taught? Can they both be right?
What are the components of virtue? Are all these components needed to be virtuous?
Why was Socrates so hostile towards the Sophists? Was it the Sophists who were corrupting the youth of Athens? These two questions we reflected on in our prior video on the life of the Sophist Protagoras, and the fragments that survive of his works.
To understand the Platonic dialogues, we need to understand the Peloponnesian Wars, which Athens lost to Sparta shortly before the composition of the dialogues, and the history of the Thirty Tyrants who were installed by Sparta, and who were overthrown for their blood thirsty tyranny.
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We also reflect on:
• Whether Sophists believe effective rhetoric overrides moral values.
• What we can learn from the Book of Judges, Hesiod and his Works and Days, St Augustine of Hippo, Aristippus, Epicurus, and Epicureanism, and the Ladder of Divine Ascent by St John Climacus.
• How many participants in Protagoras were in the Symposium of either Plato or Xenophon.
• The other characters in Protagoras: Callias, Critias, Alcibiades, Hippias, Phaedrus, and Prodicus.
• Why Socrates was called a Sophist by Aristophanes in The Clouds, and in his trial.
• Retelling of the Myth of Prometheus by Protagoras, and his assistant, Epimetheus.
• Elements of virtue: justice, reverence and holiness, temperance, and courage.
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As Socrates teaches us, the examined life is a life worth living. We would be fools if we did not desire to learn from our multitude of friends whose words live in the works of the classics that have survived from past centuries and millennia. The Stoic and moral philosophers of Greece and Rome saw philosophy as an evangelical enterprise, seeking to spread the joy of living a godly life for its own sake.
Our projects include:
Studying the teachings of the ancient and modern stoic and moral philosophers on how to better lead a godly life.
Studying ancient and modern history to learn moral lessons and learn how we can successfully live a life of faith in trying times, including civil rights and social gospel history.
Studying issues of morality in the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish traditions.
Everyone should join and participate in their local church. However, my internet persona is purposefully obscure so that I can be respectful of all genuine Judeo-Christian traditions, I do not wish to be disrespectfully polemical.
This is original content based on research by Bruce Strom and his blogs. Images in the Public Domain, many from Wikipedia, some from the National Archives, are selected to provide illustration. When images of the actual topic or event are not available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. The ancient world was a warrior culture out of necessity, to learn from the distant past we should not only judge them from our modern perspective but also from their own ancient perspective on their own terms.
