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Gorgias--About the Dialogue
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Contents
Articles
Gorgias
1
Socrates
7
Polus
20
Chaerephon
20
Callicles
22
Socratic dialogue
22
Gorgias (dialogue)
24
References
Article Sources and Contributors
30
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
32
Article Licenses
License
33
Gorgias
1
Gorgias
Gorgias (Γοργίας)
Born
485 BC
Leontini
Died
380 BC
Era
Pre-Socratic philosophy
Region
Western Philosophy
School
Sophism
Main interests ontology, Epistemology rhetoric, moral relativism
Notable ideas
Rhetorical 'Paradoxologia'
Gorgias
/ˈɡɔrdʒiəs/ (Greek: Γοργίας, Ancient Greek: [ɡorɡías]; "the Nihilist"; c. 485 – c. 380 BC),[1] Greek
sophist, pre-socratic philosopher and rhetorician, was a native of Leontini in Sicily. Along with Protagoras, he forms
the first generation of Sophists. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would
only have been a few years younger. "Like other Sophists he was an itinerant, practicing in various cities and giving
public exhibitions of his skill at the great pan-Hellenic centers of Olympia and Delphi, and charged fees for his
instruction and performances. A special feature of his displays was to invite miscellaneous questions from the
audience and give impromptu replies."[2]
His chief claim to recognition resides in the fact that he transplanted rhetoric from his native Sicily to Attica, and
contributed to the diffusion of the Attic dialect as the language of literary prose.
Life
Gorgias originated from Leontini, a Greek colony in Sicily, and what is often called the home of Spartan rhetoric. It
is known that Gorgias had a father named Charmander and two siblings – a brother named Herodicus and a sister
who dedicated a statue to Gorgias in Delphi (McComiskey 6-7).
He was already about sixty when in 427 he was sent to Athens by his fellow-citizens at the head of an embassy to
ask for Athenian protection against the aggression of the Syracusans. He subsequently settled in Athens, probably
due to the enormous popularity of his style of oratory and the profits made from his performances and rhetoric
classes. According to Aristotle, his students included Isocrates.[3] (Other students are named in later traditions; the
Suda adds Pericles, Polus, and Alcidamas,[4] Diogenes Laërtius mentions Antisthenes,[5] and according to
Philostratus, "I understand that he attracted the attention of the most admired men, Critias and Alcibiades who were
young, and Thucydides and Pericles who were already old. Agathon too, the tragic poet, whom Comedy regards as
wise and eloquent, often Gorgianizes in his iambic verse").[6]
Gorgias is reputed to have lived to be one hundred and eight years old (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). He won
admiration for his ability to speak on any subject (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). He accumulated considerable
wealth; enough to commission a gold statue of himself for a public temple.[7] After his Pythian Oration, the Greeks
installed a solid gold statue of him in the temple of Apollo at Delphi (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). He died at
Larissa in Thessaly.
Gorgias
Rhetorical innovation
Gorgias ushered in rhetorical innovations involving structure and ornamentation and the introduction of
paradoxologia – the idea of paradoxical thought and paradoxical expression. For these advancements, Gorgias has
been labeled the ‘father of sophistry’ (Wardy 6). Gorgias is also known for contributing to the diffusion of the Attic
dialect as the language of literary prose. Gorgias was the first orator to develop and teach a "distinctive style of
speaking," (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33).
Gorgias’ extant rhetorical works (Encomium of Helen, Defense of Palamedes, On Non-Existence, and Epitaphios)
come to us via a work entitled Technai, a manual of rhetorical instruction, which may have consisted of models to be
memorized and demonstrate various principles of rhetorical practice (Leitch, et al. 29). Although some scholars
claim that each work presents opposing statements, the four texts can be read as interrelated contributions to the
up-and-coming theory and art (technê) of rhetoric (McComiskey 32). Of Gorgias’ surviving works, only the
Encomium and the Defense are believed to exist in their entirety. Meanwhile, there are his own speeches, rhetorical,
political, or other. A number of these are referred to and quoted by Aristotle, including a speech on Hellenic unity, a
funeral oration for Athenians fallen in war, and a brief quotation from an Encomium on the Eleans. Apart from the
speeches, there are paraphrases of the treatise "On Nature or the Non-Existent." These works are each part of the
Diels-Kranz collection, and although academics consider this source reliable, many of the works included are
fragmentary and corrupt. Questions have also been raised as to the authenticity and accuracy of the texts attributed to
Gorgias (Consigny 4).
Gorgias’ writings are both rhetorical and performative. He goes to great lengths to exhibit his ability of making an
absurd, argumentative position appear stronger. Consequently, each of his works defend positions that are unpopular,
paradoxical and even absurd. The performative nature of Gorgias’ writings is exemplified by the way that he
playfully approaches each argument with stylistic devices such as parody, artificial figuration and theatricality
(Consigny 149). Gorgias’ style of argumentation can be described as poetics-minus-the-meter (poiêsis-minus-meter).
Gorgias argues that persuasive words have power (dunamis) that is equivalent to that of the gods and as strong as
physical force. In the Encomium, Gorgias likens the effect of speech on the soul to the effect of drugs on the body:
“Just as different drugs draw forth different humors from the body – some putting a stop to disease, others to life –
so too with words: some cause pain, others joy, some strike fear, some stir the audience to boldness, some benumb
and bewitch the soul with evil persuasion” (Gorgias 32).
Gorgias also believed that his "magical incantations" would bring healing to the human psyche by controlling
powerful emotions. He paid particular attention to the sounds of words, which, like poetry, could captivate
audiences. His florid, rhyming style seemed to hypnotize his audiences (Herrick 42). Gorgias' legendary powers of
persuasion would suggest that he had a somewhat preternatural influence over his audience and their emotions.
Unlike other Sophists, such as Protagoras, Gorgias did not profess to teach arete (excellence, or, virtue). He believed
that there was no absolute form of arete, but that it was relative to each situation (for example, virtue in a slave was
not virtue in a statesman) His thought was that rhetoric, the art of persuasion, was the king of all sciences, since it
was capable of persuading any course of action. While rhetoric existed in the curriculum of every Sophist, Gorgias
placed more prominence upon it than any of the others.
Much debate over both the nature and value of rhetoric begins with Gorgias. Plato’s dialogue entitled Gorgias
presents a counter-argument to Gorgias’ embrace of rhetoric, its elegant form, and performative nature (Wardy 2).
The dialog attempts to show that rhetoric does not meet the requirements to actually be considered a technê but is a
somewhat dangerous "knack" to possess both for the orator and for his audience. This is because it gives the ignorant
the power to seem more knowledgeable than an expert to a group.
2
Gorgias
3
On the Non-Existent
Gorgias is the author of a lost work: On Nature or the Non-Existent. Rather than being one of his rhetorical works, it
presented a theory of being that at the same time refuted and parodied the Eleatic thesis. The original text was lost
and today there remain just two paraphrases of it. The first is preserved by the philosopher Sextus Empiricus in
Against the Professors and the other by the anonymous author of On Melissus, Xenophanes, and Gorgias. Each
work, however, excludes material that is discussed in the other, which suggests that each version may represent
intermediary sources (Consigny 4). It is clear, however, that the work developed a skeptical argument, which has
been extracted from the sources and translated as below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Nothing exists;
Even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and
Even if something can be known about it, knowledge about it can't be communicated to others.
Even if it can be communicated, it cannot be understood.
The argument has largely been seen as an ironic refutation of Parmenides' thesis on Being. Gorgias set out to prove
that it is as easy to demonstrate that being is one, unchanging and timeless as it is to prove that being has no
existence at all. Regardless of how it "has largely been seen" it seems clear that Gorgias was focused instead on the
notion that true objectivity is impossible since the human mind can never be separated from its possessor.
“How can anyone communicate the idea of color by means of words since the ear does not hear colors but only
sounds?” This quote, written by the Sicilian philosopher Gorgias, was used to show his theory that ‘there is nothing’,
‘if there were anything no one would know it’, ‘and if anyone did know it, no one could communicate it’. This theory,
thought of in the late 5th century BC, is still being contemplated by many philosophers throughout the world. This
argument has led some to label Gorgias a nihilist (one who believes nothing exists, or that the world is
incomprehensible, and that the concept of truth is fictitious). For the first main argument where Gorgias says, “there
is no-thing”, he tries to persuade the reader that thought and existence are not the same. By claiming that if thought
and existence truly were the same, then everything that anyone thought would suddenly exist. He also attempted to
prove that words and sensations couldn’t be measured by the same standards, for even though words and sensations
are both derived from the mind, they are essentially different. This is where his second idea comes into place.
Rhetorical works
Encomium of Helen
The Encomium of Helen is considered to be a good example of epideictic oratory and was supposed to have been
Gorgias' "show piece or demonstration piece," which was used to attract students (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33).
In their writings, Gorgias and other sophists speculated "about the structure and function of language” as a
framework for expressing the implications of action and the ways decisions about such actions were made” (Jarratt
103). And this is exactly the purpose of Gorgias’ Encomium of Helen. Of the three divisions of rhetoric discussed by
Aristotle in his Rhetoric (forensic, deliberative, and epideictic), the Encomium can be classified as an epideictic
speech, expressing praise for Helen of Troy and ridding her of the blame she faced for leaving Sparta with Paris
(Wardy 26).
Helen – the proverbial “Helen of Troy” – exemplified both sexual passion and tremendous beauty for the Greeks.
She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, the Queen of Sparta, and her beauty was the direct cause of the decade long
Trojan War between Greece and Troy. The war began after the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite asked Paris
(a Trojan prince) to select who was the most beautiful of the three. Each goddess tried to influence Paris’ decision,
but he ultimately chose Aphrodite who then promised Paris the most beautiful woman. Paris then traveled to Greece
where he was greeted by Helen and her husband Menelaus. Under the influence of Aphrodite, Helen allowed Paris to
persuade her to elope with him. Together they traveled to Troy, not only sparking the war, but also a popular and
literary tradition of blaming Helen for her wrongdoing. It is this tradition which Gorgias confronts in the Encomium.
Gorgias
The Encomium opens with Gorgias explaining that “a man, woman, speech, deed, city or action that is worthy of
praise should be honored with acclaim, but the unworthy should be branded with blame” (Gorgias 30). In the speech
Gorgias discusses the possible reasons for Helen’s journey to Troy. He explains that Helen could have been
persuaded in one of four ways: by the gods, by physical force, by love, or by speech (logos). If it were indeed the
plan of the gods that caused Helen to depart for Troy, Gorgias argues that those who blame her should face blame
themselves, “for a human’s anticipation cannot restrain a god’s inclination” (Gorgias 31). Gorgias explains that, by
nature, the weak are ruled by the strong, and, since the gods are stronger than humans in all respects, Helen should
be freed from her undesirable reputation. If, however, Helen was abducted by force, it is clear that the aggressor
committed a crime. Thus, it should be he, not Helen, who should be blamed. And if Helen was persuaded by love,
she should also be rid of ill repute because “if love is a god, with the divine power of the gods, how could a weaker
person refuse and reject him? But if love is a human sickness and a mental weakness, it must not be blamed as
mistake, but claimed as misfortune” (Gorgias 32). Finally, if speech persuaded Helen, Gorgias claims he can easily
clear her of blame. Gorgias explains: “Speech is a powerful master and achieves the most divine feats with the
smallest and least evident body. It can stop fear, relieve pain, create joy, and increase pity” (Gorgias 31). It is here
that Gorgias compares the effect of speech on the mind with the effect of drugs on the body. He states that Helen has
the power to "lead" many bodies in competition by using her body as a weapon (Gumpert, 74). This image of
"bodies led and misled, brought together and led apart, is of paramount importance in Gorgias' speech," (Gumpert,
74).
The Encomium demonstrates Gorgias’ love of paradoxologia. The performative nature of the Encomium requires a
reciprocal relationship between the performer and the audience, one which relies on the cooperation between the
deceptive performer and the equally deceived audience (Wardy 36). Gorgias reveals this paradox in the final section
of the Encomium where he writes: “I wished to write this speech for Helen’s encomium and my amusement” (Gorgias
33). Additionally, if one were to accept Gorgias’ argument for Helen’s exoneration, it would fly in the face of a
whole literary tradition of blame directed towards Helen. This too is paradoxical. While Gorgias primarily used
metaphors and paradox, he famously used "figures of speech, or schemata," (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa). This
included balanced clauses (isocolon), the joining of contrasting ideas (antithesis), the structure of successive clauses
(parison), and the repetition of word endings (homoeoteleuton) (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). The Encomium
shows Gorgias' interest in argumentation, as he makes his point by "systematically refuting a series of possible
alternatives," (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). It is an encomium of the "rhetorical craft itself, and a
demonstration of its power over us," (Gumpert, 73).
Defense of Palamedes
In the Defense of Palamedes Gorgias describes logos as a positive instrument for creating ethical arguments
(McComiskey 38). The Defense, an oration that deals with issues of morality and political commitment (Consigny
38), defends Palamedes who, in Greek mythology, is credited with the invention of the alphabet, written laws,
numbers, armor, and measures and weights (McComiskey 47).
In the speech Palamedes defends himself against the charge of treason. In Greek mythology, Odysseus – in order to
avoid going to Troy with Agamemnon and Menelaus to bring Helen back to Sparta – pretended to have gone mad
and began sowing the fields with salt. Palamedes got Odysseus to disclose this information by throwing his son
Telemachus in front of the plow. Odysseus, who never forgave Palamedes for making him reveal himself, later
accused Palamedes of working with the Trojans. Soon after, Palamedes was condemned and killed (Jarratt 58).
In this epideictic speech, like the Encomium, Gorgias is concerned with experimenting with how plausible arguments
can cause conventional truths to be doubted (Jarratt 59). Throughout the text, Gorgias presents a method for
composing logical (logos), ethical (ethos) and emotional (pathos) arguments from possibility, which are similar to
those described by Aristotle in Rhetoric. These types of arguments about motive and capability presented in the
Defense are later described by Aristotle as forensic topoi. Gorgias demonstrates that in order to prove that treason
4
Gorgias
had been committed, a set of possible occurrences also need to be established. In the Defense these occurrences are
as follows: communication between Palamedes and the enemy, exchange of a pledge in the form of hostages or
money, and not being detected by guards or citizens. In his defense, Palamedes claims that a small sum of money
would not have warranted such a large undertaking and reasons that a large sum of money, if indeed such a
transaction had been made, would require the aid of many confederates in order for it to be transported. Palamedes
reasons further that such an exchange could neither have occurred at night because the guards would be watching,
nor in the day because everyone would be able to see. Palamedes continues, explaining that if the aforementioned
conditions were, in fact, arranged then action would need to follow. Such action needed to take place either with or
without confederates; however, if these confederates were free men then they were free to disclose any information
they desired, but if they were slaves there was a risk of their voluntarily accusing to earn freedom, or accusing by
force when tortured. Slaves, Palamedes says, are untrustworthy. Palamedes goes on to list a variety of possible
motives, all of which he proves false.
Through the Defense Gorgias demonstrates that a motive requires an advantage such as status, wealth, honour, and
security, and insists that Palamedes lacked a motive (McComiskey 47-49).
Epitaphios (or Athenian funeral oration)
This text is considered to be an important contribution to the genre of epitaphios. During the 5th and 4th centuries
BC, such funeral orations were delivered by well-known orators during public burial ceremonies in Athens, whereby
those who died in wars were honoured. Gorgias’ text provides a clever critique of 5th century propagandist rhetoric
in imperial Athens and is the basis for Plato’s parody, Menexenus (Consigny 2).
Critics
Plato is one of Gorgias’ greatest critics. Plato’s dislike for sophistic doctrines is well known, and it is in his
eponymous dialogue that both Gorgias himself as well as his rhetorical beliefs are ridiculed (McComiskey 17).
In the Gorgias, Plato distinguishes between philosophy and rhetoric, characterizing Gorgias as an orator who
entertains his audience with his eloquent words and who believes that it is unnecessary to learn the truth about actual
matters when one has discovered the art of persuasion (Consigny 36). In the dialogue, Gorgias responds to one of
Socrates’ statements as follows: “Rhetoric is the only area of expertise you need to learn. You can ignore all the rest
and still get the better of the professionals!” (Plato 24).
Gorgias, whose On Non-Existence is taken to be critical of the Eleatic tradition and its founder Parmenides, describes
philosophy as a type of seduction, but he does not deny philosophy entirely, giving some respect to philosophers
(Consigny 37).
Plato answers Gorgias by reaffirming the Parmenidean ideal that being is the basic substance and reality of which all
things are composed, insisting that philosophy is a dialectic distinct from and superior to rhetoric (Wardy 52).
Aristotle also criticizes Gorgias, labeling him a mere Sophist whose primary goal is to make money by appearing
wise and clever, thus deceiving the public by means of misleading or sophistic arguments (Consigny 36).
5
Gorgias
6
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd. ed. s.v. "Gorgias" (Oxford, 1996)
W.K.C. Guthrie, The Sophists (New York:Cambridge University Press, 1971), p. 270.
Aristotle, fr. 130 Rose = Quintilian 3.1.13.
Suda, Gorgias
Diogenes Laërtius, vi. 2
Lives of the Sophists 1.9, trans. George Kennedy in The Older Sophists, ed. R.K. Sprague (Columbia, S.C., 1972), p. 31.
Sprague, Rosamond Kent, The Older Sophists, Hackett Publishing Company (ISBN 0-87220-556-8)., p. 31
Sources
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911).
Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Consigny, Scott. Gorgias: Sophist and Artist. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2001.
• Gorgias. “Encomium of Helen.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Eds. Vincent B. Leitch, et al.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. 30-33.
• Gumpert, Matthew. Grafting Helen: the Abduction of the Classical Past. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin
Press, 2001. Print.
• Jarratt, Susan C. Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1991.
• Leitch, Vincent B., et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, 2001.
• McComiskey, Bruce. Gorgias and the New Sophistic Rhetoric. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois
University Press, 2001.
• Matsen, Patricia P., Philip Rollinson and Marion Sousa. Readings from Classical Rhetoric. Illinois: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1990. Print
• Plato. Gorgias. Trans. Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 1994.
• Walker, Jeffrey. Rhetoric and Poetics in Antiquity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Wardy, Robert. The Birth of Rhetoric: Gorgias, Plato and Their Successors. New York: Routledge, 1996.
• Sprague, Rosamond Kent, The Older Sophists, Hackett Publishing Company(ISBN 0-87220-556-8).
External links
• Encomium on Helen: Greek text (http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/gorgias/helenuni.htm) and English
translation (http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/gorgias/helendonovan.htm)
• Gorgias (http://www.gottwein.de/Grie/vorsokr/VSGorg02.php), selected texts (from Plato's dialogue entitled
"Gorgias") in Greek (with German translation and vocabulary notes)
• Encomium on Helen: public domain audiobook (http://www.kennyshomework.com/multimedia.html)
Socrates
7
Socrates
Socrates (Σωκράτης)
Socrates
Born
[1]
c. 469 / 470 BC
Deme Alopece, Athens
Died
399 BC (age approx. 71)
Athens
Nationality
Greek
Era
Ancient philosophy
Region
Western philosophy
School
Classical Greek
Main interests
Epistemology, ethics
Notable ideas
Socratic method, Socratic irony
Socrates ( /ˈsɒkrətiːz/; Greek: Σωκράτης, Ancient Greek pronunciation: Greek pronunciation: [sɔːkrátɛːs], Sōkrátēs; c.
469 BC – 399 BC)[1] was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western
philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the
writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. Many would claim
that Plato's dialogues are the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity.[2]
Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics,
and it is this Platonic Socrates who also lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or
elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in
which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight
into the issue at hand. It is Plato's Socrates that also made important and lasting contributions to the fields of
epistemology and logic, and the influence of his ideas and approach remains strong in providing a foundation for
much western philosophy that followed.
Socrates
Biography
The Socratic problem
An accurate picture of the historical Socrates and his philosophical viewpoints is problematic: an issue known as the
Socratic problem.
As Socrates did not write philosophical texts, the knowledge of the man, his life, and his philosophy is entirely based
on writings by his students and contemporaries. Foremost among them is Plato; however, works by Xenophon,
Aristotle, and Aristophanes also provide important insights.[3] The difficulty of finding the “real” Socrates arises
because these works are often philosophical or dramatic texts rather than straightforward histories. Aside from
Thucydides (who makes no mention of Socrates or philosophers in general) and Xenophon, there are in fact no
straightforward histories contemporary with Socrates that dealt with his own time and place. A corollary of this is
that sources that do mention Socrates do not necessarily claim to be historically accurate, and are often partisan
(those who prosecuted and convicted Socrates have left no testament). Historians therefore face the challenge of
reconciling the various texts that come from these men to create an accurate and consistent account of Socrates' life
and work. The result of such an effort is not necessarily realistic, merely consistent.
Plato is frequently viewed as the most informative source about Socrates' life and philosophy.[4] At the same time,
however, many scholars believe that in some works Plato, being a literary artist, pushed his avowedly brightened-up
version of "Socrates" far beyond anything the historical Socrates was likely to have done or said; and that Xenophon,
being an historian, is a more reliable witness to the historical Socrates. It is a matter of much debate which Socrates
Plato is describing at any given point—the historical figure, or Plato's fictionalization. As Martin Cohen has put it,
Plato, the idealist, offers "an idol, a master figure, for philosophy. A Saint, a prophet of the 'Sun-God', a teacher
condemned for his teachings as a heretic."[5]
It is also clear from other writings and historical artifacts, however, that Socrates was not simply a character, or an
invention, of Plato. The testimony of Xenophon and Aristotle, alongside some of Aristophanes' work (especially The
Clouds), is useful in fleshing out a perception of Socrates beyond Plato's work.
Life
Details about Socrates can be derived from three contemporary sources: the
dialogues of Plato and Xenophon (both devotees of Socrates), and the plays of
Aristophanes. He has been depicted by some scholars, including Eric Havelock
and Walter Ong, as a champion of oral modes of communication, standing up at
the dawn of writing against its haphazard diffusion.[6]
Aristophanes' play The Clouds portrays Socrates as a clown who teaches his
students how to bamboozle their way out of debt. Most of Aristophanes' works,
however, function as parodies. Thus, it is presumed this characterization was also
not literal.
According to Plato, Socrates' father was Sophroniscus[7] and his mother
Carnelian gem imprint representing
[8]
Socrates,
Rome, 1st century BC-1st
Phaenarete, a midwife. Though she was characterized as undesirable in
[9]
century AD.
temperament, Socrates married Xanthippe, who was much younger than he.
She bore for him three sons,[10] Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. His
friend Crito of Alopece criticized him for abandoning his sons when he refused to try to escape before his
execution.[11]
It is unclear how Socrates earned a living. Ancient texts seem to indicate that Socrates did not work. In Xenophon's
Symposium, Socrates is reported as saying he devotes himself only to what he regards as the most important art or
occupation: discussing philosophy. In The Clouds Aristophanes portrays Socrates as accepting payment for teaching
8
Socrates
and running a sophist school with Chaerephon, while in Plato's Apology and Symposium and in Xenophon's accounts,
Socrates explicitly denies accepting payment for teaching. More specifically, in the Apology Socrates cites his
poverty as proof he is not a teacher. According to Timon of Phlius and later sources, Socrates took over the
profession of stonemasonry from his father. There was a tradition in antiquity, not credited by modern scholarship,
that Socrates crafted the statues of the Three Graces, which stood near the Acropolis until the 2nd century AD.[12]
Several of Plato's dialogues refer to Socrates' military service. Socrates says he served in the Athenian army during
three campaigns: at Potidaea, Amphipolis, and Delium. In the Symposium Alcibiades describes Socrates' valour in
the battles of Potidaea and Delium, recounting how Socrates saved his life in the former battle (219e-221b). Socrates'
exceptional service at Delium is also mentioned in the Laches by the General after whom the dialogue is named
(181b). In the Apology, Socrates compares his military service to his courtroom troubles, and says anyone on the jury
who thinks he ought to retreat from philosophy must also think soldiers should retreat when it seems likely that they
will be killed in battle.
In 406 he was a member of the Boule, and his tribe the Antiochis held the Prytany on the day the Generals of the
Battle of Arginusae, who abandoned the slain and the survivors of foundered ships to pursue the defeated Spartan
navy, were discussed. Socrates was the Epistates and resisted the unconstitutional demand for a collective trial to
establish the guilt of all eight Generals, proposed by Callixeinus. Eventually, Socrates refused to be cowed by threats
of impeachment and imprisonment and blocked the vote until his Prytany ended the next day, whereupon the six
Generals who had returned to Athens were condemned to death.
In 404 the Thirty Tyrants sought to ensure the loyalty of those opposed to them by making them complicit in their
activities. Socrates and four others were ordered to bring a certain Leon of Salamis from his home for unjust
execution. Socrates quietly refused, his death averted only by the overthrow of the Tyrants soon afterwards.
Trial and death
Socrates lived during the time of the transition from the height of the Athenian hegemony to its decline with the
defeat by Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian War. At a time when Athens sought to stabilize and recover from
its humiliating defeat, the Athenian public may have been entertaining doubts about democracy as an efficient form
of government. Socrates appears to have been a critic of democracy, and some scholars interpret his trial as an
expression of political infighting.
Claiming loyalty to his city, Socrates clashed with the current course of Athenian politics and society.[13] He praises
Sparta, archrival to Athens, directly and indirectly in various dialogues. One of Socrates' purported offenses to the
city was his position as a social and moral critic. Rather than upholding a status quo and accepting the development
of what he perceived as immorality within his region, Socrates questioned the collective notion of "might makes
right" that he felt was common in Greece during this period. Plato refers to Socrates as the "gadfly" of the state (as
the gadfly stings the horse into action, so Socrates stung various Athenians), insofar as he irritated some people with
considerations of justice and the pursuit of goodness.[14] His attempts to improve the Athenians' sense of justice may
have been the source of his execution.
According to Plato's Apology, Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend Chaerephon asked the
oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates; the Oracle responded that no-one was wiser. Socrates believed
that what the Oracle had said was a paradox, because he believed he possessed no wisdom whatsoever. He proceeded
to test the riddle by approaching men considered wise by the people of Athens—statesmen, poets, and artisans—in
order to refute the Oracle's pronouncement. Questioning them, however, Socrates concluded that, while each man
thought he knew a great deal and was wise, in fact they knew very little and were not wise at all. Socrates realized
that the Oracle was correct, in that while so-called wise men thought themselves wise and yet were not, he himself
knew he was not wise at all, which, paradoxically, made him the wiser one since he was the only person aware of his
own ignorance. Socrates' paradoxical wisdom made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish,
turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing. Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the
9
Socrates
end: at his trial, when Socrates was asked to propose his own punishment, he suggested a wage paid by the
government and free dinners for the rest of his life instead, to finance the time he spent as Athens' benefactor.[15] He
was, nevertheless, found guilty of both corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of impiety ("not believing in
the gods of the state"),[16] and subsequently sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing poison hemlock.
According to Xenophon's story, Socrates purposefully gave a defiant defense
to the jury because "he believed he would be better off dead". Xenophon goes
on to describe a defense by Socrates that explains the rigors of old age, and
how Socrates would be glad to circumvent them by being sentenced to death.
It is also understood that Socrates also wished to die because he "actually
believed the right time had come for him to die."
Xenophon and Plato agree that Socrates had an opportunity to escape, as his
followers were able to bribe the prison guards. He chose to stay for several
reasons:
1. He believed such a flight would indicate a fear of death, which he believed
no true philosopher has.
2. If he fled Athens his teaching would fare no better in another country as
he would continue questioning all he met and undoubtedly incur their
displeasure.
Bust of Socrates in the Vatican Museum
3. Having knowingly agreed to live under the city's laws, he implicitly
subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes by its citizens and judged guilty by its jury. To do
otherwise would have caused him to break his "social contract" with the state, and so harm the state, an act
contrary to Socratic principle.
The full reasoning behind his refusal to flee is the main subject of the Crito.
Socrates' death is described at the end of Plato's Phaedo. Socrates turned down the pleas of Crito to attempt an
escape from prison. After drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his legs felt numb. After he lay
down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot. Socrates could no longer feel his legs. The numbness
slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before his death, Socrates speaks his last words to Crito:
"Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt." Asclepius was the Greek god for curing
illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body.
Additionally, in Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths, Robin Waterfield adds another interpretation of Socrates'
last words. He suggests that Socrates was a voluntary scapegoat; his death was the purifying remedy for Athens’
misfortunes. In this view, the token of appreciation for Asclepius would represent a cure for the ailments of
Athens.[14]
Philosophy
Socratic method
Perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic
method or method of "elenchus", which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts such as the
Good and Justice. It was first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. To solve a problem, it would be broken
down into a series of questions, the answers to which gradually distill the answer a person would seek. The influence
of this approach is most strongly felt today in the use of the scientific method, in which hypothesis is the first stage.
The development and practice of this method is one of Socrates' most enduring contributions, and is a key factor in
earning his mantle as the father of political philosophy, ethics or moral philosophy, and as a figurehead of all the
central themes in Western philosophy.
10
Socrates
To illustrate the use of the Socratic method; a series of questions are posed to help a person or group to determine
their underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. The Socratic method is a negative method of hypothesis
elimination, in that better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and eliminating those that lead to
contradictions. It was designed to force one to examine one's own beliefs and the validity of such beliefs. In fact,
Socrates once said, "I know you won't believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself
and others."[17]
An alternative interpretation of the dialectic is that it is a method for direct perception of the Form of the Good.
Philosopher Karl Popper describes the dialectic as "the art of intellectual intuition, of visualising the divine originals,
the Forms or Ideas, of unveiling the Great Mystery behind the common man's everyday world of appearances."[18] In
a similar vein French philosopher Pierre Hadot suggests that the dialogues are a type of spiritual exercise.
"Furthermore," writes Hadot, "in Plato's view, every dialectical exercise, precisely because it is an exercise of pure
thought, subject to the demands of the Logos, turns the soul away from the sensible world, and allows it to convert
itself towards the Good."[19]
Philosophical beliefs
The beliefs of Socrates, as distinct from those of Plato, are difficult to discern. Little in the way of concrete evidence
exists to demarcate the two. The lengthy presentation of ideas given in most of the dialogues may be deformed by
Plato, and some scholars think Plato so adapted the Socratic style as to make the literary character and the
philosopher himself impossible to distinguish. Others argue that he did have his own theories and beliefs, but there is
much controversy over what these might have been, owing to the difficulty of separating Socrates from Plato and the
difficulty of interpreting even the dramatic writings concerning Socrates. Consequently, distinguishing the
philosophical beliefs of Socrates from those of Plato and Xenophon is not easy and it must be remembered that what
is attributed to Socrates might more closely reflect the specific concerns of these thinkers.
The matter is complicated because the historical Socrates seems to have been notorious for asking questions but not
answering, claiming to lack wisdom concerning the subjects about which he questioned others.[20]
If anything in general can be said about the philosophical beliefs of Socrates, it is that he was morally, intellectually,
and politically at odds with his many of his fellow Athenians. When he is on trial for heresy and corrupting the
minds of the youth of Athens, he uses his method of elenchos to demonstrate to the jurors that their moral values are
wrong-headed. He tells them they are concerned with their families, careers, and political responsibilities when they
ought to be worried about the "welfare of their souls". Socrates' assertion that the gods had singled him out as a
divine emissary seemed to provoke irritation, if not outright ridicule. Socrates also questioned the Sophistic doctrine
that arete (virtue) can be taught. He liked to observe that successful fathers (such as the prominent military general
Pericles) did not produce sons of their own quality. Socrates argued that moral excellence was more a matter of
divine bequest than parental nurture. This belief may have contributed to his lack of anxiety about the future of his
own sons.
Socrates frequently says his ideas are not his own, but his teachers'. He mentions several influences: Prodicus the
rhetor and Anaxagoras the philosopher. Perhaps surprisingly, Socrates claims to have been deeply influenced by two
women besides his mother: he says that Diotima, a witch and priestess from Mantinea, taught him all he knows about
eros, or love; and that Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, taught him the art of rhetoric.[21] John Burnet argued that his
principal teacher was the Anaxagorean Archelaus but his ideas were as Plato described them; Eric A. Havelock, on
the other hand, considered Socrates' association with the Anaxagoreans to be evidence of Plato's philosophical
separation from Socrates.
11
Socrates
Socratic paradoxes
Many of the beliefs traditionally attributed to the historical Socrates have been characterized as "paradoxical"
because they seem to conflict with common sense. The following are among the so-called Socratic Paradoxes:[22]
•
•
•
•
No one desires evil.
No one errs or does wrong willingly or knowingly.
Virtue—all virtue—is knowledge.
Virtue is sufficient for happiness.
The phrase Socratic paradox can also refer to a self-referential paradox, originating in Socrates' phrase, "I know that
I know nothing noble and good".[23]
Knowledge
One of the best known sayings of Socrates is "I only know that I know nothing". The conventional interpretation of
this remark is that Socrates' wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance. Socrates believed
wrongdoing was a consequence of ignorance and those who did wrong knew no better. The one thing Socrates
consistently claimed to have knowledge of was "the art of love", which he connected with the concept of "the love of
wisdom", i.e., philosophy. He never actually claimed to be wise, only to understand the path a lover of wisdom must
take in pursuing it. It is debatable whether Socrates believed humans (as opposed to gods like Apollo) could actually
become wise. On the one hand, he drew a clear line between human ignorance and ideal knowledge; on the other,
Plato's Symposium (Diotima's Speech) and Republic (Allegory of the Cave) describe a method for ascending to
wisdom.
In Plato's Theaetetus (150a), Socrates compares himself to a true matchmaker (προμνηστικός promnestikós), as
distinguished from a panderer (προᾰγωγός proagogos). This distinction is echoed in Xenophon's Symposium (3.20),
when Socrates jokes about his certainty of being able to make a fortune, if he chose to practice the art of pandering.
For his part as a philosophical interlocutor, he leads his respondent to a clearer conception of wisdom, although he
claims he is not himself a teacher (Apology). His role, he claims, is more properly to be understood as analogous to a
midwife (μαῖα maia). Socrates explains that he is himself barren of theories, but knows how to bring the theories of
others to birth and determine whether they are worthy or mere "wind eggs" (ἀνεμιαῖον anemiaion). Perhaps
significantly, he points out that midwives are barren due to age, and women who have never given birth are unable to
become midwives; they would have no experience or knowledge of birth and would be unable to separate the worthy
infants from those that should be left on the hillside to be exposed. To judge this, the midwife must have experience
and knowledge of what she is judging.
12
Socrates
13
Virtue
Socrates believed the best way for people to live was to focus on
self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth. He always invited
others to try to concentrate more on friendships and a sense of true
community, for Socrates felt this was the best way for people to grow
together as a populace. His actions lived up to this: in the end, Socrates
accepted his death sentence when most thought he would simply leave
Athens, as he felt he could not run away from or go against the will of his
community; as mentioned above, his reputation for valor on the battlefield
was without reproach.
The idea that there are certain virtues formed a common thread in Socrates'
teachings. These virtues represented the most important qualities for a person
to have, foremost of which were the philosophical or intellectual virtues.
Socrates stressed that "virtue was the most valuable of all possessions; the
ideal life was spent in search of the Good. Truth lies beneath the shadows of
existence, and it is the job of the philosopher to show the rest how little they
really know."
Bust of Socrates in the Palermo
Archaeological Museum.
Politics
It is often argued that Socrates believed "ideals belong in a world only the wise man can understand", making the
philosopher the only type of person suitable to govern others. In Plato's dialogue the Republic, Socrates openly
objected to the democracy that ran Athens during his adult life. It was not only Athenian democracy: Socrates found
short of ideal any government that did not conform to his presentation of a perfect regime led by philosophers, and
Athenian government was far from that. It is, however, possible that the Socrates of Plato's Republic is colored by
Plato's own views. During the last years of Socrates' life, Athens was in continual flux due to political upheaval.
Democracy was at last overthrown by a junta known as the Thirty Tyrants, led by Plato's relative, Critias, who had
been a friend of Socrates. The Tyrants ruled for about a year before the Athenian democracy was reinstated, at which
point it declared an amnesty for all recent events.
Socrates' opposition to democracy is often denied, and the question is one of the biggest philosophical debates when
trying to determine exactly what Socrates believed. The strongest argument of those who claim Socrates did not
actually believe in the idea of philosopher kings is that the view is expressed no earlier than Plato's Republic, which
is widely considered one of Plato's "Middle" dialogues and not representative of the historical Socrates' views.
Furthermore, according to Plato's Apology of Socrates, an "early" dialogue, Socrates refused to pursue conventional
politics; he often stated he could not look into other's matters or tell people how to live their lives when he did not
yet understand how to live his own. He believed he was a philosopher engaged in the pursuit of Truth, and did not
claim to know it fully. Socrates' acceptance of his death sentence, after his conviction by the Boule (Council), can
also be seen to support this view. It is often claimed much of the anti-democratic leanings are from Plato, who was
never able to overcome his disgust at what was done to his teacher. In any case, it is clear Socrates thought the rule
of the Thirty Tyrants was also objectionable; when called before them to assist in the arrest of a fellow Athenian,
Socrates refused and narrowly escaped death before the Tyrants were overthrown. He did however fulfill his duty to
serve as Prytanis when a trial of a group of Generals who presided over a disastrous naval campaign were judged;
even then he maintained an uncompromising attitude, being one of those who refused to proceed in a manner not
supported by the laws, despite intense pressure.[24] Judging by his actions, he considered the rule of the Thirty
Tyrants less legitimate than the Democratic Senate that sentenced him to death.
Socrates
Covertness
In the Dialogues of Plato, Socrates sometimes seems to support a mystical side, discussing reincarnation and the
mystery religions; however, this is generally attributed to Plato. Regardless, this cannot be dismissed out of hand, as
we cannot be sure of the differences between the views of Plato and Socrates; in addition, there seem to be some
corollaries in the works of Xenophon. In the culmination of the philosophic path as discussed in Plato's Symposium,
one comes to the Sea of Beauty or to the sight of "the beautiful itself" (211C); only then can one become wise. (In
the Symposium, Socrates credits his speech on the philosophic path to his teacher, the priestess Diotima, who is not
even sure if Socrates is capable of reaching the highest mysteries.) In the Meno, he refers to the Eleusinian
Mysteries, telling Meno he would understand Socrates' answers better if only he could stay for the initiations next
week. Further confusions result from the nature of these sources, insofar as the Platonic Dialogues are arguably the
work of an artist-philosopher, whose meaning does not volunteer itself to the passive reader nor again the lifelong
scholar. Plato himself was a playwright before taking up the study of philosophy. His works are, indeed, dialogues;
Plato's choice of this, the medium of Sophocles, Euripides, and the fictions of theatre, may reflect the
ever-interpretable nature of his writings, as he has been called a "dramatist of reason". What is more, the first word
of nearly all Plato's works is a significant term for that respective dialogue, and is used with its' many connotations in
mind. Finally, the Phaedrus and the Symposium each allude to Socrates' coy delivery of philosophic truths in
conversation; the Socrates of the Phaedrus goes so far as to demand such dissembling and mystery in all writing.
The covertness we often find in Plato, appearing here and there couched in some enigmatic use of symbol and/or
irony, may be at odds with the mysticism Plato's Socrates expounds in some other dialogues. These indirect methods
may fail to satisfy some readers.
Perhaps the most interesting facet of this is Socrates' reliance on what the Greeks called his "daemonic sign", an
averting (ἀποτρεπτικός apotreptikos) inner voice Socrates heard only when he was about to make a mistake. It was
this sign that prevented Socrates from entering into politics. In the Phaedrus, we are told Socrates considered this to
be a form of "divine madness", the sort of insanity that is a gift from the gods and gives us poetry, mysticism, love,
and even philosophy itself. Alternately, the sign is often taken to be what we would call "intuition"; however,
Socrates' characterization of the phenomenon as "daemonic" may suggest that its' origin is divine, mysterious, and
independent of his own thoughts.
Satirical playwrights
He was prominently lampooned in Aristophanes' comedy The Clouds, produced when Socrates was in his
mid-forties; he said at his trial (according to Plato) that the laughter of the theater was a harder task to answer than
the arguments of his accusers. Søren Kierkegaard believed this play was a more accurate representation of Socrates
than those of his students. In the play, Socrates is ridiculed for his dirtiness, which is associated with the Laconizing
fad; also in plays by Callias, Eupolis, and Telecleides. Other comic poets who lampooned Socrates include
Mnesimachus and Ameipsias. In all of these, Socrates and the Sophists were criticised for "the moral dangers
inherent in contemporary thought and literature".
Prose sources
Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle are the main sources for the historical Socrates; however, Xenophon and Plato were
direct disciples of Socrates, and they may idealize him; however, they wrote the only continuous descriptions of
Socrates that have come down to us in their complete form. Aristotle refers frequently, but in passing, to Socrates in
his writings. Almost all of Plato's works center on Socrates. However, Plato's later works appear to be more his own
philosophy put into the mouth of his mentor.
14
Socrates
The Socratic dialogues
The Socratic Dialogues are a series of dialogues written by Plato and Xenophon in the form of discussions between
Socrates and other persons of his time, or as discussions between Socrates' followers over his concepts. Plato's
Phaedo is an example of this latter category. Although his Apology is a monologue delivered by Socrates, it is
usually grouped with the Dialogues.
The Apology professes to be a record of the actual speech Socrates delivered in his own defense at the trial. In the
Athenian jury system, an "apology" is composed of three parts: a speech, followed by a counter-assessment, then
some final words. "Apology" is a transliteration, not a translation, of the Greek apologia, meaning "defense"; in this
sense it is not apologetic according to our contemporary use of the term.
Plato generally does not place his own ideas in the mouth of a specific speaker; he lets ideas emerge via the Socratic
Method, under the guidance of Socrates. Most of the dialogues present Socrates applying this method to some extent,
but nowhere as completely as in the Euthyphro. In this dialogue, Socrates and Euthyphro go through several
iterations of refining the answer to Socrates' question, "...What is the pious, and what the impious?"
In Plato's Dialogues, learning appears as a process of remembering. The soul, before its incarnation in the body, was
in the realm of Ideas (very similar to the Platonic "Forms"). There, it saw things the way they truly are, rather than
the pale shadows or copies we experience on earth. By a process of questioning, the soul can be brought to
remember the ideas in their pure form, thus bringing wisdom.
Especially for Plato's writings referring to Socrates, it is not always clear which ideas brought forward by Socrates
(or his friends) actually belonged to Socrates and which of these may have been new additions or elaborations by
Plato – this is known as the Socratic Problem. Generally, the early works of Plato are considered to be close to the
spirit of Socrates, whereas the later works – including Phaedo and Republic – are considered to be possibly products
of Plato's elaborations.
Legacy
Immediate influence
Immediately, the students of Socrates set to work both on exercising their perceptions of his teachings in politics and
also on developing many new philosophical schools of thought. Some of Athens' controversial and anti-democratic
tyrants were contemporary or posthumous students of Socrates including Alcibiades and Critias. Critias' cousin,
Plato would go on to found the Academy in 385 BC, which gained so much notoriety that 'Academy' became the
base word for educational institutions in later European languages such as English, French, and Italian. Plato's
protege, another important figure of the Classical era, Aristotle went on to tutor Alexander the Great and also to
found his own school in 335 BC- the Lyceum, whose name also now means an educational institution.
While Socrates was shown to demote the importance of institutional knowledge like mathematics or science in
relation to the human condition in his Dialogues, Plato would emphasize it with metaphysical overtones mirroring
that of Pythagoras – the former who would dominate Western thought well into the Renaissance. Aristotle himself
was as much of a philosopher as he was a scientist with rudimentary work in the fields of biology and physics.
Socratic thought which challenged conventions, especially in stressing a simplistic way of living, became divorced
from Plato's more detached and philosophical pursuits. This idea was inherited by one of Socrates' older students,
Antisthenes, who became the originator of another philosophy in the years after Socrates' death: Cynicism.
Antisthenes attacked Plato and Alcibiades over what he deemed as their betrayal of Socrates' tenets in his writings.
The idea of asceticism being hand in hand with an ethical life or one with piety, ignored by Plato and Aristotle and
somewhat dealt with by the Cynics, formed the core of another philosophy in 281 BC – Stoicism when Zeno of
Citium would discover Socrates' works and then learn from Crates, a Cynic philosopher. None of the schools
however, would inherit his tendency to openly associate with and respect women or the regular citizen.
15
Socrates
Later historical effects
While some of the later contributions of Socrates to Hellenistic Era culture and philosophy as well as the Roman Era
have been lost to time, his teachings began a resurgence in both medieval Europe and the Islamic Middle East
alongside those of Aristotle and Stoicism. Socrates is mentioned in the dialogue Kuzari by Jewish philosopher and
rabbi Yehuda Halevi in which a Jew instructs the Khazar king about Judaism. al-Kindi, a well-known Arabic
philosopher, introduced and tried to reconcile Socrates and Hellenistic philosophy to an Islamic audience, referring
to him by the name 'Suqrat'.
Socrates' stature in Western philosophy returned in full force with the Renaissance and the Age of Reason in Europe
when political theory began to resurface under those like Locke and Hobbes. Voltaire even went so far as to write a
satirical play about the Trial of Socrates. There were a number of paintings about his life including Socrates Tears
Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure by Jean-Baptiste Regnault and The Death of Socrates by
Jacques-Louis David in the later 18th century.
To this day, the Socratic Method is still used in classroom and law school discourse to expose underlying issues in
both subject and the speaker. He has been rewarded with accolades ranging from numerous mentions in pop culture
such as the movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and a Greek rock band to numerous busts in academic
institutions in recognition of his contribution to education.
Criticism
Evaluation and reaction to Socrates has been undertaken with both historical and philosophical inquiry from the time
of his death to the present day with a multitude of conclusions and perspectives. One of the initial criticisms levied
against the philosopher was presented at his trial – that he was not the proponent of a philosophy but an individual
with a method of undermining the fabric of Athenian society, a charge carried by the 500-man jury of Athenians that
sentenced him to death. Although he was not directly prosecuted for his connection to Critias, leader of the
Spartan-backed Thirty Tyrants, he was seen as a controversial figure, who mentored oligarchs who became abusive
tyrants, and undermined Athenian democracy. The Sophist establishment he railed at in life survived him, but by the
3rd century BC, was rapidly overtaken by the many philosophical schools of thought that Socrates influenced.
Socrates' death is considered iconic and his status as a martyr of philosophy overshadowed most contemporary and
posthumous criticism at the time. However, Xenophon attempts to explain that Socrates purposely welcomed the
hemlock due to his old age using the arguably self-destructive testimony to the jury as evidence. Direct criticism of
Socrates almost disappears at this point, but there is a noticeable preference for Plato or Aristotle over the elements
of Socratic philosophy distinct from those of his students, even into the Middle Ages.
Modern scholarship holds that, with so much of the philosopher obscured and possibly altered by Plato, it is
impossible to gain a clear picture of Socrates amidst all the seeming contradictions. That both Cynicism and
Stoicism, which carried heavy influence from Socratic thought, were unlike or even contrary to Platonism further
illustrates this. The ambiguity and lack of reliability serves as the modern basis of criticism – that it is near
impossible to know the real Socrates. Some controversy also exists about claims of Socrates exempting himself from
the homosexual customs of ancient Greece and not believing in the Olympian gods to the point of being
monotheistic or if this was an attempt by later Medieval scholars to reconcile him with the morals of the era.
However, it is still commonly taught and held with little exception that Socrates is the founder of modern Western
philosophy, to the point that philosophers before him are referred to as pre-Socratic.
16
Socrates
Ahmadiyya viewpoint
Mirza Tahir Ahmad (the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community) argued in his book Revelation,
Rationality, Knowledge & Truth that Socrates was a prophet of the ancient Greeks. The apparent prophetic qualities
of Socrates are indeed a subject for debate.[25] His constant reference to the oracle and how it performs the active
function of a moral compass by preventing him from unseemly acts could easily be taken as a reference to – or
substitute for revelation. Similarly, Socrates often refers to God in the singular as opposed to the plural and actively
rejected the Greek pantheon of Gods and Goddesses unless citing them as examples of their falseness.[26]
Notes
[1] "Socrates" (http:/ / www. 1911encyclopedia. org/ Socrates_(philosopher)). 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1911. . Retrieved 2007-11-14.
[2] Sarah Kofman, Socrates: Fictions of a Philosopher (1998) ISBN 0-8014-3551-X
[3] Many other writers added to the fashion of Socratic dialogues (called Sőkratikoi logoi) at the time. In addition to Plato and Xenophon, each of
the following is credited by some source as having added to the genre: Aeschines of Sphettus, Antisthenes, Aristippus, Bryson, Cebes, Crito,
Euclid of Megara, and Phaedo. It is unlikely Plato was the first in this field (Vlastos, p. 52).
[4] There are several reasons this is the case. For one, Socrates is credited as an intellectual by almost every existing primary source. It is more
likely then, that a fellow intellectual (i.e., Plato) would be more capable of understanding Socrates's ideas than a comic playwright, like
Aristophanes. Furthermore, Socrates – as he is depicted by Xenophon's works – does nothing that would lead one to conclude he was a
revolutionary or a threat to Athens (both Socrates and Xenophon served in military forces). Plato's Socrates behaves in ways that would
explain why he was condemned for impiety (May, On Socrates).
[5] Martin Cohen, Philosophical Tales (2008) ISBN 1-4051-4037-2
[6] Ong, pp. 78–79.
[7] Plato, Laches 180d (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0176:text=Lach. :section=180d), Euthydemus
297e (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0178:text=Euthyd. :section=297e), Hippias Major 298c (http:/
/ www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0180:text=Hipp. + Maj. :section=298c)
[8] Plato, Theaetetus 149a (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0172:text=Theaet. :section=149a),
Alcibiades 1 131e (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0176:text=Alc. 1:section=131e)
[9] "Xenophon, ''Symposium'' 2.10" (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0212:text=Sym.
:chapter=2:section=10). Perseus.tufts.edu. . Retrieved 2012-08-19.
[10] "Plato, ''Phaedo'' 116b" (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0170:text=Phaedo:section=116b).
Perseus.tufts.edu. . Retrieved 2012-08-19.
[11] "Plato, ''Crito'' 45c-45e" (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ hopper/ text?doc=Perseus:text:1999. 01. 0170:text=Crito:page=45).
Perseus.tufts.edu. . Retrieved 2012-08-19.
[12] The ancient tradition is attested in Pausanias, 1.22.8 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?lookup=Paus. + 1. 22. 1); for a modern
denial, see Kleine Pauly, "Sokrates" 7; the tradition is a confusion with the sculptor, Socrates of Thebes, mentioned in Pausanias 9.25.3 (http:/
/ www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?lookup=Paus. + 9. 25. 1), a contemporary of Pindar.
[13] Here it is telling to refer to Thucydides ( 3.82.8 (http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?lookup=Thuc. + 3. 82. 8)): "Reckless
audacity came to be considered the courage of a loyal ally; prudent hesitation, specious cowardice; moderation was held to be a cloak for
unmanliness; ability to see all sides of a question inaptness to act on any. Frantic violence, became the attribute of manliness; cautious
plotting, a justifiable means of self-defense. The advocate of extreme measures was always trustworthy; his opponent a man to be suspected."
[14] Waterfield,Robin. Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths. New York:W.W.Norton and Company, 2009
[15] Brun (1978).
[16] Plato. Apology, 24–27.
[17] Coppens.
[18] Popper, K. (1962) The Open Society and its Enemies, Volume 1 Plato, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, p133.
[19] Hadot, P. (1995) Philosophy as a Way of Life, Oxford, Blackwells, p93.
[20] Plato, Republic 336c & 337a, Theaetetus 150c, Apology 23a; Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.4.9; Aristotle, Sophistical Refutations 183b7.
[21] Plato, Menexenus 235e
[22] p. 14, Terence Irwin, The Development of Ethics, vol. 1, Oxford University Press 2007; p. 147, Gerasimos Santas, "The Socratic Paradoxes",
Philosophical Review 73 (1964), pp. 147–64.
[23] Apology of Socrates 21d.
[24] Kagen (1978).
[25] Hughes, Bettany. Socrates: The Hemlock Cup. (Random House, 2009)
[26] Greek Philosophy (http:/ / www. alislam. org/ library/ books/ revelation/ part_1_section_5. html) – Al Islam
17
Socrates
References
• Brun, Jean (1978 (sixth edition)). Socrate. Presses universitaires de France. pp. 39–40. ISBN 2-13-035620-6.
(French)
• Coppens, Philip, "Socrates, that’s the question" (http://www.philipcoppens.com/socrates.html) Feature
Articles – Biographies, PhilipCoppens.com.
• May, Hope (2000). On Socrates. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN 0-534-57604-4.
• Ong, Walter (2002). Orality and Literacy. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28129-6.
• Kagan, Donald. The Fall of the Athenian Empire. First. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1987.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+1.1.1). W. H.
S. Jones (translator). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London, William
Heinemann Ltd. (1918). Vol. 1. Books I–II: ISBN 0-674-99104-4. Vol. 4. Books VIII.22–X: ISBN
0-674-99328-4.
• Thucydides; The Peloponnesian War. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910. (http://www.perseus.
tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Thuc.+toc)
• Vlastos, Gregory (1991). Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
ISBN 0-8014-9787-6.
Further reading
• Bernas, Richard, cond. Socrate. By Erik Satie. LTM/Boutique, 2006
• Bruell, C. (1994). “On Plato’s Political Philosophy”, Review of Politics, 56: 261-82.
• Bruell, C. (1999). On the Socratic Education: An Introduction to the Shorter Platonic Dialogues, Lanham, MD:
Rowman and Littlefield.
• Grube, G.M.A.(2002). "Plato, Five Dialogues". Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
• Hanson, V.D. (2001). "Socrates Dies at Delium, 424 B.C.", What If? 2, Robert Cowley, editor, G.P. Putnam's
Sons, NY.
• Egan, K. The educated mind : how cognitive tools shape our understanding. (1997) University of Chicago Press,
Chicago. ISBN 0-226-19036-6 p. 137-144
• Kierkegaard, Søren (1968). The Concept of Irony: with Constant Reference to Socrates. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-20111-9.
• Levinson, Paul (2007). The Plot to Save Socrates. New York: Tor Books. ISBN 0-7653-1197-6.
• Luce, J.V. (1992). An Introduction to Greek Philosophy, Thames & Hudson, NY.
• Maritain, J. (1930, 1991). Introduction to Philosophy, Christian Classics, Inc., Westminster, MD.
• Robinson, R (1953). Plato's Earlier Dialectic. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-824777-7. Ch. 2:
"Elenchus" (http://www.ditext.com/robinson/dia2.html), Ch. 3: "Elenchus: Direct and Indirect" (http://www.
ditext.com/robinson/dia3.html)
• Taylor, C.C.W., Hare, R.M. & Barnes, J. (1998). Greek Philosophers – Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, Oxford
University Press, NY.
• Taylor, C.C.W. (2001). Socrates: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
18
Socrates
External links
• Socrates (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007zp21) on In Our Time at the BBC. ( listen now (http://
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b007zp21/In_Our_Time_Socrates))
• Socrates (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates) entry by Debra Nails in the Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
• Socrates (https://inpho.cogs.indiana.edu/thinker/3919) at the Indiana Philosophy Ontology Project
• Greek Philosophy: Socrates (http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/SOCRATES.HTM)
•
Diogenes Laërtius, Life of Socrates, translated by Robert Drew Hicks (1925).
• Original Fresque of Socrates in Archaeological Museum of Ephesus (http://www.amengansie.com/sacrates.
html)
• Socrates Narrates Plato's The Republic (http://www.allphilosophers.com/index.html)
• Apology of Socrates, by Plato.
• Project Gutenberg e-texts on Socrates, amongst others:
• The Dialogues of Plato (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/authrec?fk_authors=93) (see also
Wikipedia articles on Dialogues by Plato)
• The writings of Xenophon (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/authrec?fk_authors=543), such as the
Memorablia and Hellenica.
• The satirical plays by Aristophanes (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/authrec?fk_authors=965)
• Aristotle's writings (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/authrec?fk_authors=2747)
• Voltaire's Socrates (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4683)
• A free audiobook of the Socratic dialogue Euthyphro (http://librivox.org/euthyphro-by-plato/) at LibriVox
(http://www.librivox.org)
• Socratic Method Research Portal (http://www.socraticmethod.net)
• Video on Socratic method (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2808374571100926940&hl=en&
fs=true)
19
Polus
20
Polus
Polus (Greek: Πῶλος, "colt", c. 5th century BCE) is the nickname Plato gave to an Ancient Greek Athenian
philosophical figure. He was a pupil of the famous orator Gorgias, and teacher of rhetoric from the city of Acragas,
Sicily.
All that is known of Polus derives from the Socratic dialogues of Plato, which suggests he was an associate of
Socrates. He features heavily in the Gorgias, a dialogue on the nature of rhetoric. Polus also appears in the Phaedrus
and Theages dialogues, and book 1 of Aristotle's Metaphysics.
Other uses
Polus is also the Roman name for the Greek Titan Coeus, as well as the name of a military satellite launched by the
Soviet Union.
External links
• Plato (1871).
Gorgias. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. Wikisource. 461b
Chaerephon
Chaerephon (Greek: Χαιρεφῶν, Chairephōn, ca. 470-460 – 403-399 BCE), of the Athenian deme Sphettus, was an
Ancient Greek best remembered as a loyal friend and follower of Socrates. He is known only through brief
descriptions by classical writers and was "an unusual man by all accounts",[1] though a man of loyal democratic
values.
Life
Chaerephon is mentioned by three writers of his time, all of whom were probably well acquainted with him:
Aristophanes, Xenophon, and Plato. Considered together, these sources suggest that Chaerephon was a well-known,
alert, energetic, engaging individual, possibly with a distinctive physical appearance and probably a bit of a
"character", who moved easily in the social and intellectual circles of the day.
In Aristophanes
Chaerephon appears in three of Aristophanes' comic plays: The Clouds, The Wasps, and The Birds. The Clouds,
produced in 423 BCE, portrays Socrates and his assistant Chaerephon as a pair of charlatans operating a
pseudo-scientific school in Athens. Chaerephon is represented in The Clouds as pale and malnourished, a "living
corpse", and it is sometimes inferred that he must have been a thin, unhealthy looking fellow in real life.[2] In The
Wasps Chaerephon, or some visual caricature of him, has a brief, non-speaking role as an impartial witness. In The
Birds he is nicknamed "the bat", possibly alluding to nocturnal habits, a bony appearance, or a sudden, excitable
nature (as suggested in Plato's works, below).
Chaerephon
In Xenophon
In his Memorabilia Xenophon includes Chaerephon in his list of the "true companions" of Socrates. Also in the
Socratic inner circle, according to Xenophon, were Crito, Hermogenes, Simmias of Thebes, Cebes of Thebes,
Phaedondes, and Chaerephon's younger brother Chaerecrates, although Xenophon acknowledges that there were
others. Later in the Memorabilia, Xenophon recounts an exchange between Socrates and Chaerecrates on the
occasion of a falling-out between the brothers. Socrates argues persuasively that Chaerecrates should make every
effort to achieve a prompt reconciliation with his older brother Chaerephon.
In Plato
In Plato's Apology, an account of the Trial of Socrates in 399 BCE, Socrates calls Chaerephon his longtime friend
and the friend of many present. Socrates says that Chaerephon is now deceased but indicates that his brother is in
attendance at the trial. Socrates suggests that Chaerephon had a reputation for being impetuous and we learn that it
was Chaerephon who journeyed to Delphi to ask the Delphic oracle who was the wisest of men. (The oracle replied
that there was none wiser than Socrates.) Socrates also alludes to a period of exile which was endured by
Chaerephon and some others present. This is sometimes taken as evidence that Chaerephon, unlike Socrates, was an
active supporter of the Athenian Democracy and was persecuted on this account when the democracy was
temporarily deposed after the defeat of Athens by Sparta.[3]
Chaerephon appears in two other Platonic dialogues: the Charmides and the Gorgias. At the start of the Charmides,
Socrates returns to Athens from the military campaign at Potidaea and is greeted with great enthusiasm by
Chaerephon who is described as "a wild man". This campaign concluded in 430 BCE (3 years before Plato's birth
and 31 years before Socrates' death), but Plato is probably accurate in depicting the association of Chaerephon and
Socrates as already well established. At the start of the Gorgias, Chaerephon and Socrates arrive late at an Athenian
gathering for an evening of conversation with Gorgias, a famed Sophist. Socrates good-naturedly blames their
lateness on Chaerephon, who chatted too long in the Agora. Chaerephon then says that Gorgias is a friend of his and,
with some coaching by Socrates, he serves satisfactorily as Gorgias' initial interlocutor in the early part of the
dialogue.
References
[1] Debra Nails, The People of Plato (2002), p 86.
[2] See W. K. C. Guthrie's Socrates (1971), p 45 n1 and p 86, for comments concerning Chaerephon's "emaciated" appearance.
[3] Gregory Vlastos (Nov., 1983). "The Historical Socrates and Athenian Democracy". Political Theory 11 (4): 495–516.
doi:10.1177/0090591783011004002. See p 511, where Vlastos writes about "Chaerephon, of whose strongly democratic partisanship there is
no doubt."
Bibliography
• Guthrie, W.K.C. (1971). Socrates. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-09667-7.
• Nails, Debra (2002). The People of Plato: A prosopography of Plato and other Socratics. Hackett Publishing
Company. ISBN 0-87220-564-9. See pp 86–87.
21
Callicles
Callicles
Callicles (Greek: Καλλικλῆς c.484–late 5th century BCE) was an ancient Athenean political philosopher best
remembered for his role in Plato’s dialogue Gorgias, where he "presents himself as a no-holds-barred,
bare-knuckled, clear-headed advocate of Realpolitik."[1]
Callicles is depicted as a young student of the sophist Gorgias. In the dialogue named for his teacher, he argues the
position of an oligarchic amoralism, stating that it is natural and just for the strong to dominate the weak and that it is
unfair for the weak to resist such oppression by establishing laws to limit the power of the strong. He asserts that the
institutions and moral code of his time were not established by gods but by men who naturally were looking after
their own interests.
Despite the scant surviving sources for his thought, he served as influential to modern political philosophy, notably
including the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche.[2]
References
[1] Charles L. Griswold. "Plato on Rhetoric and Poetry" (http:/ / plato. stanford. edu/ entries/ plato-rhetoric/ ). Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. .
[2] Debra Nails, The people of Plato: a prosopography of Plato and other Socratics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2002
External links
• Callicles and Thrasymachus (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/callicles-thrasymachus/#5)
• Socrates v. Callicles (http://www.fordham.edu/philosophy/lc/davenport/ethsum00/callicle.htm)
Socratic dialogue
Socratic dialogue (Greek: Σωκρατικὸς λόγος or Σωκρατικὸς διάλογος) is a genre of prose literary works
developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BC, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic
works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems,
illustrating a version of the Socratic method. Socrates is often the main character.
Most accurately, the term refers to works in which Socrates is a character, though as a genre other texts are included;
Plato's Laws and Xenophon's Hiero are Socratic dialogues in which a wise man other than Socrates leads the
discussion (the Athenian Stranger and Simonides, respectively). Likewise, the stylistic format of the dialogues can
vary; Plato's dialogues generally only contain the direct words of each of the speakers, while Xenophon's dialogues
are written down as a continuous story, containing, along with the narration of the circumstances of the dialogue, the
"quotes" of the speakers.
According to a fragment of Aristotle, the first author of Socratic dialogue was Alexamenus of Teos, but we do not
know anything else about him, whether Socrates appeared in his works, or how accurate Aristotle was in his
antagonistic judgement about him. In addition to Plato and Xenophon, Antisthenes, Aeschines of Sphettos, Phaedo
of Elis, Euclid of Megara, Simon the Shoemaker, Theocritus, Tissaphernes and Aristotle all wrote Socratic
dialogues, and Cicero wrote similar dialogues in Latin on philosophical and rhetorical themes, for example De re
publica.
22
Socratic dialogue
23
Plato
Generally, the works which are most often assigned to Plato's early years are all considered to be Socratic dialogues
(written from 399 to 387) , but many of his Middle dialogues (written from 387 to 361, after the establishment of his
Academy), and Later dialogues (written in the period between 361 and his death in 347) incorporate Socrates'
character and are often included here as well.[1]
•
First Alcibiades
Euthyphro
•
Phaedo
•
Second Alcibiades •
•
Gorgias
•
Phaedrus
•
Apology
•
Hippias Major •
Philebus
•
Charmides
•
Hippias Minor •
Republic
•
Clitophon
•
Ion
•
Sophist
•
Cratylus
•
Laches
•
Statesman
•
Critias
•
Lysis
•
Symposium
•
Crito
•
Meno
•
Theaetetus
•
Epinomis
•
Parmenides
•
Timaeus
•
Euthydemus
•
Protagoras
Xenophon
•
•
•
•
Apology
Hiero
Memorabilia
Symposium
Cicero
• De re publica
References
[1] Plato & Socrates, The Relationship Between Socrates and Plato, www.umkc.edu (http:/ / law2. umkc. edu/ faculty/ projects/ ftrials/ socrates/
plato& soc. html)
• Jowett, B. M.A. (1911). The Dialogues of Plato: Translated into English, with analyses and Introductions Vol.I.
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
Gorgias (dialogue)
24
Gorgias (dialogue)
Part of the series on:
The dialogues of Plato
Early dialogues:
Apology – Charmides – Crito
Euthyphro – First Alcibiades
Hippias Major – Hippias Minor
Ion – Laches – Lysis
Transitional & middle dialogues:
Cratylus – Euthydemus – Gorgias
Menexenus – Meno – Phaedo
Protagoras – Symposium
Later middle dialogues:
Republic – Phaedrus
Parmenides – Theaetetus
Late dialogues:
Clitophon – Timaeus – Critias
Sophist – Statesman
Philebus – Laws
Of doubtful authenticity:
Axiochus – Demodocus
Epinomis – Epistles – Eryxias
Halcyon – Hipparchus – Minos
On Justice – On Virtue
Rival Lovers – Second Alcibiades
Sisyphus – Theages
Gorgias is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato around 380 BC. In this dialogue, Socrates seeks the true definition of
rhetoric, attempting to pinpoint the essence of rhetoric and unveil the flaws of the sophistic oratory popular in Athens
at this time. The art of persuasion was widely considered necessary for political and legal advantage in classical
Athens, and rhetoricians promoted themselves as teachers of this fundamental skill. Some, like Gorgias, were
foreigners attracted to Athens because of its reputation for intellectual and cultural sophistication. In the Gorgias,
Socrates argues that philosophy is an art, whereas rhetoric is merely a knack. To Socrates, most rhetoric in practice is
merely flattery. In order to use rhetoric for good, rhetoric cannot exist alone; it must depend on philosophy to guide
its morality. Socrates, therefore, believes that morality is not inherent in rhetoric and that without philosophy,
rhetoric is simply used to persuade for personal gain. Socrates suggests that he is one of the few (but not only)
Gorgias (dialogue)
Athenians to practice true politics (521d).
The characters
•
•
•
•
•
Socrates, the philosopher
Chaerephon, a friend of Socrates
Gorgias, the rhetorician
Polus, a student of Gorgias
Callicles, an older rhetorician
Major themes
Definition of rhetoric
Socrates interrogates Gorgias in order to determine the true definition of rhetoric, framing his argument around the
question format, "What is X?" (2).[1] He asks, "…why don’t you tell us yourself what the craft you’re an expert in is,
and hence what we’re supposed to call you?" (449e).
Throughout the remainder of the dialogue, Socrates debates about the nature of rhetoric. Socrates believes there are
two types: "…one part of it would be flattery, I suppose, and shameful public harangue, while the other—that of
getting the souls of the citizens to be as good as possible and of striving valiantly to say what is best, whether the
audience will find it more pleasant or more unpleasant—is something admirable. But you’ve never seen this type of
oratory…" (502e). Although rhetoric has the potential to be used justly, Socrates believes that in practice, rhetoric is
flattery; the rhetorician makes the audience feel worthy because they can identify with the rhetorician’s argument.
The question of techne: art vs. knack
Socrates and Polus debate whether rhetoric can be considered an art. Polus states that rhetoric is indeed a craft, but
Socrates replies, "To tell you the truth, Polus, I don't think it's a craft at all" (462b). The dialogue continues:
"POLUS: So you think oratory's a knack?
SOCRATES: Yes, I do, unless you say it's something else.
POLUS: A knack for what?
SOCRATES: For producing a certain gratification and pleasure" (462c).
Socrates continues to argue that rhetoric is not an art, but merely a knack: "…it guesses at what's pleasant with no
consideration for what's best. And I say that it isn't a craft, but a knack, because it has no account of the nature of
whatever things it applies by which it applies them, so that it’s unable to state the cause of each thing" (465a).
The morality of rhetoric
Socrates discusses the morality of rhetoric with Gorgias, asking him if rhetoric was just. Socrates catches the
incongruity in Gorgias statements: "well, at the time you said that, I took it that oratory would never be an unjust
thing, since it always makes its speeches about justice. But when a little later you were saying that the orator could
also use oratory unjustly, I was surprised and thought that your statements weren't consistent" (461a). To this
argument, Gorgias "…is left wishing he could respond, knowing he cannot, and feeling frustrated and competitive.
The effect of the 'proof' is not to persuade, but to disorient him".[2]
Socrates believes that rhetoric alone is not a moral endeavor. Gorgias is criticized because, "he would teach anyone
who came to him wanting to learn oratory but without expertise in what's just…" (482d). Socrates believes that
people need philosophy to teach them what is right, and that oratory cannot be righteous without philosophy.
25
Gorgias (dialogue)
Truth
Socrates continually claims that his methods of questioning are aimed at discovering the truth. He sarcastically
compliments Callicles on his frankness because it helps expose the truth about oratory: "I well know that if you
concur with what my soul believes, then that is the very truth. I realize that the person who intends to put a soul to an
adequate test to see whether it lives rightly or not must have three qualities, all of which you have: knowledge,
goodwill, and frankness" (487a). Truth can be found through deliberation with others, relaying to one another the
knowledge in ones' soul in order to come to a conclusion about each other's beliefs.
At the same time, truth is not based upon commonly accepted beliefs. Socrates outlines a problem about truth when
it is misaligned from public opinion: "you don't compel me; instead you produce many false witnesses against me
and try to banish me from my property, the truth. For my part, if I don't produce you as a single witness to agree with
what I'm saying, then I suppose I've achieved nothing worth mentioning concerning the things we’ve been
discussing" (472c).
Summary
Introduction
The dialogue begins just after Gorgias has given a speech. Callicles says that Gorgias is a guest in his home, and has
agreed to a private audience with Socrates and his friend Chaerephon. Socrates gets Gorgias to agree to his
cross-examination style of conversation, asks him questions, and praises him for the brevity of his replies. Gorgias
remarks that no one has asked him a new question in a long time, and when Socrates asks, assures him that he is just
as capable of brevity as of long-windedness (449c).
Physical and intellectual combat compared
Gorgias admits under Socrates' cross-examination that while rhetoricians give people the power of words, they are
not instructors of morality. Gorgias does not deny that his students might use their skills for immoral purposes (such
as persuading the assembly to make an unwise decision, or to let a guilty man go free), but he says the teacher cannot
be held responsible for this. He makes an argument from analogy: Gorgias says that if a man who went to wrestling
school took to thrashing his parents or friends, you would not send his drill instructor into exile (456d-457c). He says
that just as the trainer teaches his craft (techne) in good faith, and hopes that his student will use his physical powers
wisely, the rhetorician has the same trust, that his students will not abuse their power.
Socrates says that he is one of those people who is actually happy to be refuted if he is wrong. He says that he would
rather be refuted than to refute someone else because it is better to be delivered from harm oneself than to deliver
someone else from harm. Gorgias, whose profession is persuasion, readily agrees that he is also this sort of man, who
would rather be refuted than refute another. Gorgias has only one misgiving: he fears that the present company may
have something better to do than listen to two men try to outdo each other in being wrong (458b-c). The company
protests and proclaim that they are anxious to witness this new version of intellectual combat.
The debate about rhetoric
Socrates gets Gorgias to agree that the rhetorician is actually more convincing in front of an ignorant audience than
an expert, because mastery of the tools of persuasion gives a man more conviction than mere facts. Gorgias accepts
this criticism and asserts that it is an advantage of his profession that a man can be considered above specialists
without having to learn anything of substance (459c). Socrates calls rhetoric a form of flattery, or pandering, and
compares it to pastry baking and beautification (cosmetics). He says that rhetoric is to politics what pastry baking is
to medicine, and what cosmetics are to gymnastics. All of these activities are aimed at surface adornment, an
impersonation of what is really good (464c-465d).
26
Gorgias (dialogue)
Some have argued that Gorgias may have been uncharacteristically portrayed by Plato, because "…Plato's Gorgias
agrees to the binary opposition knowledge vs. opinion" (82).[3] This is inaccurate because, "for Gorgias the sophist,
all 'knowledge' is opinion. There can be no rational or irrational arguments because all human beliefs and
communicative situations are relative to a kairotic moment" (83).[3]
The pitiful tyrant
Socrates then advances that "orators and tyrants have the very least power of any in our cities" (466d). Lumping
tyrants and rhetoricians into a single category, Socrates says that both of them, when they kill people or banish them
or confiscate their property, think they are doing what is in their own best interest, but are actually pitiable. Socrates
maintains that the wicked man is unhappy, but that the unhappiest man of all is the wicked one who does not meet
with justice, rebuke, and punishment (472e). Polus, who has stepped into the conversation at this point, laughs at
Socrates. Socrates asks him if he thinks laughing is a legitimate form of refutation (473e). Polus then asks Socrates if
putting forth views that no one would accept is not a refutation in itself. Socrates replies that if Polus cannot see how
to refute him, he will show Polus how.
Socrates states that it is far worse to inflict evil than to be the innocent victim of it (475e). He gives the example of
tyrants being the most wretched people on earth. He adds that poverty is to financial condition as disease is to the
body as injustice is to the soul (477b-c). This analogy is used to define the states of corruption in each instance.
Money-making, medicine, and justice are the respective cures (478a,b). Socrates argues that just penalties discipline
people, make them more just, and cure them of their evil ways (478d). Wrongdoing is second among evils, but
wrongdoing and getting away with it is the first and greatest of evils (479d). It follows from this, that if a man does
not want to have a festering and incurable tumor growing in his soul, he needs to hurry himself to a judge upon
realizing that he has done something wrong. Socrates posits that the rhetorician should accuse himself first, and then
do his family and friends the favor of accusing them, so great is the curative power of justice (480c-e).
Socrates maintains that "supposing it is our duty to injure somebody, whether an enemy or anyone else—provided
only that it is not against oneself that wrong has been done by such enemy, for this we must take care to avoid—but
supposing our enemy has wronged some one else" (480e) you should contrive every means to see that he does not
come before the judicial system. Because you want his soul to rot and fester, you should make sure he keeps and
squanders his ill-gotten gains, and lives as long as possible in his wicked state. Polus and Callicles are both
astounded at Socrates' position and wonder if he is just kidding (481b).
Callicles criticizes philosophy
Callicles observes that if Socrates is correct, people have life upside down, and are everywhere doing the opposite of
what they should be doing. Socrates says he is in love with Alcibiades and philosophy, and cannot stop his beloveds
from saying what is on their minds. While the statements of certain people often differ from one time to the next,
Socrates claims that what philosophy says always stays the same (482b).
Callicles accuses Socrates of carrying on like a demagogue. He argues that suffering wrong is worse than doing it,
that there is nothing good about being a victim. He further argues (as Glaucon does in the Gyges story in the
Republic) that wrongdoing is only by convention shameful, and it is not wrong by nature. Then, he berates Socrates
for wasting time in frivolous philosophy, saying there is no harm in young people engaging in useless banter, but that
it is unattractive in older men. He tells Socrates that he is disgraceful, and that if anyone should seize him and carry
him off to prison, he would be helpless to defend himself, saying that Socrates would reel and gape in front of a jury,
and end up being put to death (486a,b). Socrates is not offended by this, and tells Callicles that his extraordinary
frankness proves that he is well-disposed towards him (487d).
Callicles then returns to his defense of nature's own justice, where the strong exercise their advantages over the
weak. He states that the natural man has large appetites and the means to satisfy them, and that only a weakling
praises temperance and justice based on artificial law not natural. (483b, 492a-c).
27
Gorgias (dialogue)
Socrates calls Callicles a "desired touchstone" (486) and counters that not only "nomos" (custom or law) but also
nature affirms that to do injustice is more disgraceful than to suffer it, that equality is justice (489a-b), and that a man
such as Callicles' ideal is like a leaky jar, insatiable and unhappy (494a). Socrates returns to his previous position,
that an undisciplined man is unhappy and should be restrained and subjected to justice (505b).
Socrates debates with himself
Callicles becomes exasperated at the intellectual stalemate, and invites Socrates to carry on by himself, asking and
answering his own questions (505d). He requests that his audience, including Callicles, listen to what he says and
kindly break in on him if he says something that sounds false. If his opponent (whom he will be speaking for
himself) makes a point, he agrees to concede to it (506a-c). Socrates proceeds with a monologue, and reiterates that
he was not kidding about the best use of rhetoric, that it is best used against one's own self. A man who has done
something wrong is wretched, but a man who gets away with it is even worse off (509b).
Philosophy is a bitter draught
Socrates argues that he aims at what is best, not at what is pleasant, and that he alone understands the technique of
politics. He says that he enjoins people to take the bitter draughts, and compels them to hunger and thirst, while most
politicians flatter the people with sweetmeats. He says of his trial that, "I shall be judged like a doctor brought before
a jury of children with a cook as prosecutor" (521e). He says that such a pandering prosecutor will no doubt succeed
in getting him sentenced to death, and he will be helpless to stop it. Socrates says that all that matters is his own
purity of soul; he has maintained this, and it is the only thing that is really within his power (522d).
The Judgment of Naked Souls
Socrates ends the dialogue by telling Callicles, Polus, and Gorgias a story that they will regard as a myth, but which
he regards as true (523a). He recounts that in the old days, Cronos judged men just before they died, and divided
them into two categories. He sent good and righteous men to the Isles of the Blessed, and godless, unrighteous men
to the prison of vengeance and punishment called Tartarus. These cases were judged badly because the men were
judged while they were alive and with their clothes on, and the judges were fooled by appearances. Zeus fixed the
problem by arranging for people to be dead, and stripped naked. The judge had to be naked too, so he could scan the
souls of men without distractions.
Socrates adds that he has heard this myth, believes it, and infers from it that death is the separation of body and soul.
He says that each retains after death the qualities it had in life, so that a fat, long-haired man will have a fat,
long-haired corpse. If he was a scoundrel, he will bear the scars of his beatings. When the judge lays hold of some
potentate, he will find that his soul bears the scars of his perjuries and crimes, because these will be branded on his
soul (524b-525a).
Socrates remarks that some people are benefited by the pain and agony of their own punishments (525b) and by
watching others suffer excruciating torture; but others have misdeeds that cannot be cured. He says that Homer
pictures kings suffering eternally in Hades, but not the ordinary scoundrel, like Thersites. Socrates tells Callicles that
this might sound like nonsense to him, an old wives' tale, but warns him that when he is up before the judge on his
own judgment day, he will reel and gape just like Socrates is currently doing. He finishes up by saying his ideas
could be justly despised if anyone could come up with a better idea, but unfortunately, no one has.
28
Gorgias (dialogue)
Translations
•
•
•
•
Plato (1871). Gorgias. Benjamin Jowett translation. Wikisource.
Plato (1987). Gorgias. Donald J. Zeyl translation. Indianapolis: Hackett.
Walter Rangeley Maitland Lamb, 1927: [4]
A revised text with introduction and commentary by Professor E.R. Dodds - Oxford University Press, London,
1959.
• Translation and introduction by Robin Waterfield - Oxford University Press, London, 1994
• Schofield, Malcolm (edt); translations by Tom Griffith (2009) (in English). Plato: Gorgias, Menexenus,
Protagoras (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought). Cambridge University Press. pp. 264.
ISBN 978-0-521-83729-3.
References
[1] Doyle, James. "Socrates and Gorgias." Phronesis 55 (2010): 1-25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.
[2] White, James B. "The Ethics of Argument: Plato's Gorgias and the Modern Lawyer." The University of Chicago Law Review 50.2 (1983):
849-95, at 865. JSTOR. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.
[3] McComiskey, Bruce. "Disassembling Plato's Critique of Rhetoric in the Gorgias." Rhetoric Review 11.1 (1992): 79-90. JSTOR. Web. 27
Apr. 2011.
[4] http:/ / www. perseus. tufts. edu/ cgi-bin/ ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999. 01. 0178%3Atext%3DGorg.
• Seth Benardete, The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy: Plato's Gorgias and Phaedrus (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1991).
• Michael Vickers, "Alcibiades and Critias in the Gorgias: Plato's 'fine satire'," Dialogues d'Histoire Ancienne, 20,2
(1994), 85–112.
• Harold Tarrant, "The Gorgias and the Demiurge," in Idem, From the Old Academy to Later Neo-Platonism:
Studies in the History of Platonic Thought (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2010), (Variorum Collected Studies Series:
CS964).
• Christina H. Tarnopolsky, Prudes, Perverts, and Tyrants: Plato's Gorgias and the Politics of Shame (Princeton,
PUP, 2010).
Footnotes
• Plato, Gorgias, [505e]: "So that, in Epicharmus's phrase, 'what two men spake erewhile' I may prove I can
manage single-handed". (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plat.+Gorg.+505e)
External links
• Approaching Plato: A Guide to the Early and Middle Dialogues (http://campus.belmont.edu/philosophy/Book.
pdf)
29
Article Sources and Contributors
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