On Socratic maieutics and Protagoras’ sophistics

A dispute within the Theaetetus

Authors

Keywords:

Plato, Theaetetus, maieutics, sophistry

Abstract

This article compares Socratic maieutics and Protagorean sophistry in Plato’s Theaetetus. Rather than focusing solely on the epistemological dimension, it emphasizes the ethical and paideutic aspects, analyzing how both educational models reflect different conceptions of wisdom and instruction. Socrates’ method and the “Defense of Protagoras” are examined, highlighting the contrast between their approaches as ways of life and pedagogical models for young Athenians.

Author Biography

Frank Mattos, Universidade de São Paulo

Pesquisador na Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brasil. 

References

Theaetetus. Translated with notes by John McDowell. Oxford University Press, 1973.

The Theaetetus of Plato. Translated by M.J. Levett, revised by Myles Burnyeat. Hackett Publishing Company, 1990.

Plato’s Theory of Knowledge. Translated by F.M. Cornford. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1953.

Teeteto. Introduzione, traduzione e commento di Franco Ferrari. BUR Rizzoli, Classici Greci e Latini.

Protagoras. Translated by Stanley Lombardo and Karen Bell. In: Plato: Complete Works. Hackett Publishing, 1997.

FINE, Gail. “Protagorean Relativisms”. In: Plato on Knowledge and Forms: Selected Essays. Oxford University Press, 2003.

SEDLEY, David. The Midwife of Platonism. Text and Subtext in Plato’s Theaetetus. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Downloads

Published

2026-05-12

Issue

No. 56 (2026)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Hypnos Journal

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The contents of the manuscript have been tacitly or explicitly approved by the responsible authorities where the research was carried out.

Upon acceptation of the manuscript, the author agrees to allow its publication by Hypnos, declining pecuniary gains due from copyright. If the manuscript is published later in other media, the author agrees to always give credits of its first publication in Hypnos.

If the submitted document includes figures, tables, or large sections of text previously published, the author declares himself responsible for having obtained permission of the original copyright owners of these items for both the online and printed publication of this journal. Credits for copyrighted material must be properly attributed in the manuscript.