Plato: Doctrines that Nourish the Soul

We must take care…that the sophist, in commending his wares, does not deceive us, as both merchant and dealer do in the case of our bodily food. For among the provisions, you know, in which these men deal, not only are they themselves ignorant what is good or bad for the body, since in selling they commend them all, but the people who buy from them are so too, unless one happens to be a trainer or a doctor. And in the same way, those who take their doctrines the round of our cities, hawking them about to any odd purchaser who desires them, commend everything that they sell, and there may well be some of these too, my good sir, who are ignorant which of their wares is good or bad for the soul; and in just the same case are the people who buy from them, unless one happens to have a doctor’s knowledge here also, but of the soul. So then, if you are well informed as to what is good or bad among these wares, it will be safe for you to buy doctrines from Protagoras or from anyone else you please: but if not, take care, my dear fellow, that you do not risk your greatest treasure on a toss of the dice. For I tell you there is far more serious risk in the purchase of doctrines than in that of eatables. When you buy victuals and liquors you can carry them off from the dealer or merchant in separate vessels, and before you take them into your body by drinking or eating you can lay them in your house and take the advice of an expert whom you can call in, as to what is fit to eat or drink and what is not, and how much you should take and when; so that in this purchase the risk is not serious. But you cannot carry away doctrines in a separate vessel: you are compelled, when you have handed over the price, to take the doctrine in your very soul by learning it, and so to depart either an injured or a benefited man. These, then, are questions which we have to consider with the aid of our elders, since we ourselves are still rather young to unravel so great a matter (Protagoras, 313a-314b).

— Plato

Cited from Plato in Twelve Volumes Translated by W.R.M. Lamb., vol. 3 (Medford, MA: Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1967).

The quote above concerns the doctrines that nourish the soul from Plato’s dialogue Protagoras caught my attention. Here we find Hippocrates conversing with Socrates about the arrival of the prominent sophist Protagoras. Greek sophists of the latter part of the fifth century BC were teachers who traveled from city to city exchanging their wisdom for a fee. Socrates is critical of the sophist. In the above quote, Socrates explains what one purchases from a sophist is doctrines that nourish the soul. The catch is in discerning whether the doctrine that nourishes the soul is anything good for the soul.

The wisdom Plato exhibits in the above quote is transcendently significant and applicable to the doctrines or teachings that circulate in the marketplace of ideas. It is not about how engaging the sophist, orator, or rhetorician is — any paid speaker ought to be engaging — but whether the message is truly nourishing to the soul in a good way. This can apply to every influential viral vlogger, podcaster, televangelist, of TED Talk speaker. Just as we never want to take in bad food and get food poisoning, so too we want to stay away from bad teachings that harm the soul. We want to eat food that nourishes; likewise, we want to have a healthy doctrinal diet for the growth of the soul.

Christ Jesus of Nazareth identified as the bread of life, a controversial teaching very few readily accepted (Jn. 6:41-51). But what Christ offered was truly something that nourished the soul. Christ is the bread from heaven consumed that brings the Christian everlasting life. Christ is the spring from which one drinks will never thirst again. Christ teachings are then the quintessential doctrine that nourishes.

Plato (circa 427-347 BC) is perhaps the premiere Greek philosopher in history. He was a student of Socrates (470-399 BC) and teacher to Aristotle (384-322 BC). He also founded the Academy in Greece. His written works are characteristically in the form of dialogue. Some of Plato’s most notable writings include The Republic, The Symposium, and Phaedo.