Wittgenstein and the Socratic Dialogues Remarks on Plato's Protagoras and the Wittgensteinian Therapeutic Function of a Critique of Language

I elaborate on the thesis that there are deep affinities between Plato's dialogue entitled Protagoras and Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, as propounded in his Philosophical Investigations. After introducing the historical figure of Protagoras and the fictional character developed from it by Plato, a confrontation between the above-mentioned dialogue and Wittgenstein's work is proposed. The confrontation itself is embedded in some considerations as to the nature and origin of language and the concept of culture and cultural history. The Protagorean metaphor of the closed contour of the human face, criticized forcefully by Socrates, forges links to Wittgenstein's program of a therapeutical function of the critique of language. Using Stanley Cavell's proposal to distinguish the voices of temptation and correction as starting-point, I will discuss some comical effects in the writings of Plato and Wittgenstein.