The next generation cleared up these perplexities; or at least supplied after ages with a further analysis of them.

The contemporaries of Plato were in a state of transition, and had not yet fully realized the common-sense distinction of Aristotle, that 'virtue is concerned with action, art with production' (Nic.

Eth.), or that 'virtue implies intention and constancy of purpose,' whereas 'art requires knowledge only'.

And yet in the absurdities which follow from some uses of the analogy, there seems to be an intimation conveyed that virtue is more than art.

This is implied in the reductio ad absurdum that 'justice is a thief,' and in the dissatisfaction which Socrates expresses at the final result.
The expression 'an art of pay' which is described as 'common to all the arts' is not in accordance with the ordinary use of language.