When I saw that I had been assigned Plato I have to confess I worried if the book might be a bit too dry and heavy for my tastes. I was therefore pleasantly surprised at the accessible, readable and indeed rather enjoyable nature of Protagoras and Meno.

The two dialogues are concerned with the nature of being 'good'. A central theme is the question of whether virtue (or 'being good') is something that can be taught. In both dialogues the central figure is Socrates. He is engaged in debates with the two eponymous figures Protagoras and Meno.

Protagoras is the most famous sophist in Greece but Socrates is sceptical as to what a sophist can achieve. Protagoras believes that the job of a sophist is to teach people how to be good. Socrates then sets out to show that virtue cannot be taught. This dialogue ends rather unsatisfactorily. Socrates cuts short the debate as both speakers had become confused -- arguing the opposite of what they originally intended.

The thoughts developed by Socrates in Protagoras are rounded off in Meno. Here, Socrates concludes that virtue is not teachable. This is because so many great sophists are unable to teach their own sons how to be good. As virtue is not teachable, nor can it be a form of wisdom.

Instead, Socrates contends that virtue comes when people are "inspired" -- it is "a gift of god". Earlier on, Socrates had brilliantly demonstrated that knowledge can be innate by leading one of Meno's slaves through a geometric puzzle without teaching anything.

As an economics graduate, I particularly appreciated the sections of the dialogues where Socrates contended that people do not set out to do bad things. It is easy to see how this Benthamite argument influenced J. S. Mill.

All-in-all I found this a very interesting book. It is a remarkably breezy read for a text that was originally written in Greek around 2,400 years ago. Full credit must be given to the translation which helps make Plato an absolute pleasure to read.

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