Plato and Courage

Comparison Essay # 101547

Literature > Greek and Roman
Philosophy > Ancient Greek

Plato and Courage

This paper analyzes courage in the works of Plato (Socrates).

1,317 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper focuses on courage and personal choice in "Protagoras" and in Book IX of "The Republic" by Plato. The paper looks at the curious actions of the diver and attempts to find an explanation for this in the final lines of the dialogue between Socrates and Protagoras. The paper then turns to Book IX of "The Republic" which succeeds in offering a better explanation for the diver's behavior by stressing the actions of the man who is overcome by a desire for glory.

From the Paper:

"Towards the end of the Protagoras, Socrates finally gets Protagoras to acknowledge that a man (or woman) cannot be courageous without being wise. Specifically, he asserts that cowardice is essentially an inability on the part of an individual to distinguish between what is to be feared and what is not to be feared. Proceeding a little further, Socrates maintains that this ability to ascertain what is genuinely deserving of one's fear and what is not deserving of one's fear is best described as wisdom - a quality, again, that is associated with the brave (Plato, 360c5-361d6). Given the exchange between Socrates and Protagoras at the end of the dialogue, it is clear that the subject in our hypothetical situation has experienced a sudden loss of courage."

Sample of Sources Used:

Plato. Protagoras. Trans. C. C. W. Taylor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Questia. 27 Jan. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=34249103>.
Plato. The Republic of Plato. Trans. Francis MacDonald Cornford. London: Oxford University Press, 1945. Questia. 27 Jan. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=12288563>