Overview
I'm working on a philosophy writing question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
The topic for discussion is about how Socrates, in order to illustrate how different he is from Sophists, tells a story about a rich man he knew (all Athenians would have known him), named Callias, who, Socrates says, spent more money on Sophists than everyone else put together. Socrates says that he asked Callias who he had hired to teach his sons human and social excellence. Such excellence, or virtue, would be what makes a human life good or successful. (“Social” merely refers to the idea that human beings live in communities or societies and do not live isolated from one another.)
It is evident that Socrates does not believe that this Sophist is such an expert on human excellence, on what makes a human life good or successful. And Socrates does not claim to be such an expert.
Question:
1) Why did Callias hire a Sophist to teach his sons?
Socrates does not think that what makes a life good or successful is money, status, and power. Callias does; so for Socrates, Callias is an example of someone who has not examined such an important issue: who should he hire to teach his sons?
Question:
2) Why does it matter that Callias falied to examine that issue?