Plato’s GORGIAS, Part 14 (Conclusion)

Having not taught Plato's Gorgias since graduate school in the '90's, I had forgotten how rich and important this dialogue is to the Western tradition. Having now recorded the whole dialogue for Simple Gifts, I am delighted to share it with you.

Gorgias was one of the most famous Sophists in the time of Classical Greece. He was one of a number of traveling teachers of the discipline of rhetoric, the art of persuasive speech. The ability to persuade others to agree with you, regardless of the truth of what you are persuading them of, has given us our modern understanding of the term "sophistry" as persuasive, clever speech that is nevertheless dishonest and misleading. Obviously, this ability is most valuable for two professions, lawyers and politicians. Socrates (and by extension Plato) thinks that the true purpose of speech and dialogue is the discovery of truth, not persuasion. Philosophy, then, is a true art, whereas rhetoric is, as Socrates declares, a sort of flattery.

In much of the dialogue, Gorgias is rather a passive listener to the discussion than an active participant, but those who are Socrates' persistent interlocutors (Polus and Callicles) are most definitely maintaining the Sophist position. The dialogue is set in the house of Callicles.

Enjoy!

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