Protagoras

Plato’s Protagoras is the dialogue which pits Socrates against Protagoras as representative of the ‘sophistic movement’ and clearly distances Socrates from his teachings. Protagoras was the chief exponent of the view, ascribed comically by Aristophanes in Clouds to Socrates himself, that one should be able to argue with equal force for or against any particular socio-political or ethical standpoint (i.e. make the weaker argument appear the stronger). He was also author of the famous dictum that ‘man ins the measure of all things’. This long-standing edition remains invaluable. It contains a clear introduction, the Greek text, detailed annotation, and appendices on the Simonides poem discussed by Socrates in the dialogue, and on the life and works of the ‘real’ Protagoras.