Socrates 'Argument Against Protagoras' View Of Wisdom

A view of wisdom or expertise that might be attributed to a relativist like Protagoras is that an individual possesses expertise if he or she has a better perception than others. Having better perception does not mean truer perception; rather, better perception can be understood as a perception that ‘brings about what is good for one’s health’ (171e). This means perception can be understood as practical knowledge. Moreover, perception can be understood as practical knowledge of certain causes and effects that produce healthy phenomena. For instance, in regards to animal bodies, veterinarians have a better knowledge of what will bring about health in the animal than non-veterinarians. Additionally, in regards to plant life, gardeners have a
As a result, Socrates’ assertion serves as evidence against Protagoras’ claim that man is the measure of all things. Socrates asserts that expertise involves an ability to make successful predictions about the future because wisdom or expertise involves practical knowledge of what will bring about health. In order for wisdom or expertise to involve practical knowledge of what brings about health, this wisdom or expertise has to be universally applicable, not just apply to certain individuals and scenarios. For example, if Socrates knows, through trial and error or any other method, that eating a certain plant will heal his aching stomach, he can safely assume that the next time he has a stomachache, that if he eats this specific plant, his stomach will no longer ache. Thus, the next time Socrates eats the plant when his stomach aches, he is doing so because he knows the plant will heal his stomach. Thus, Socrates is predicting that, in the future, his stomach will stop aching if he eats a specific plant. Moreover, when his or any other individual’s stomach aches, Socrates knows that eating this plant will prove to be a useful endeavor in bringing about health for his or anyone else’s future self. This is important because, in order for Socrates’
This is because the wisdom or expertise possessed by doctors can be empirically verified to be true or false, whereas it is much more difficult to empirically verify the wisdom or expertise possessed by politicians to be true or false. With respect to the aforementioned examples of an ill Socrates, one can verify whether or not Socrates actually possesses wisdom or expertise of how to heal himself with a simple test. This demonstration extends to doctors’ ability to heal others, as well. One can verify whether or not a doctor actually possesses the wisdom or expertise of how to heal his or her patients simply by examining how well said doctor cures his or her patients. This is important because being verifiable is a necessary requirement for knowledge. The wisdom or expertise of politicians, on the other hand, is much harder to verify. This is because it is difficult to judge whether or not the city the politician is residing over is healthy. It is possible a politician could brainwash the citizens of his or her city into believing they are living the best possible life when in fact they are not. For these reasons, the wisdom or expertise possessed by doctors is better accounted for than the wisdom or expertise possessed by