Resumen
Resumen de Gorgias
Para quién es
For anyone who wonders whether success and power make a good life, and anyone who works with words, such as teachers, lawyers, politicians and writers. For readers who enjoy debates about persuasion, pleasure and justice.
De qué trata este libro
Gorgias is a dialogue by Plato, the Athenian philosopher, written some years after the death of his teacher Socrates in 399 BC. It is set in Athens, where Socrates meets Gorgias, a visiting teacher of public speaking, along with two followers named Polus and Callicles. The talk begins with a small question: what is rhetoric, the craft of speaking to a crowd? Soon it becomes a much larger one.
Plato wrote in a city where power ran on speeches. Citizens argued in the assembly, accused one another in the law courts, and could be ruined by a clever voice. Socrates himself had been condemned by a jury that listened to speeches. So Plato asks a hard question. Is the power to persuade worth having if the speaker does not know what is just and what is good? And what does a person gain by getting whatever he wants?
In this book you will meet three opponents, each bolder than the last, and a Socrates who will not give way. You will follow arguments about flattery, about tyrants, about punishment as a kind of cure, and about pleasure. The dialogue ends with a story about judgment after death. Let us start where the conversation starts, with a simple demand to Gorgias: tell me what you teach.
En este resumen
- 1Rhetoric is the craft of persuasionFree
- 2Persuading without knowing is dangerous
- 3Rhetoric is flattery, not a true craft
- 4Power is not doing whatever you please
- 5Doing wrong harms you more than suffering it
- 6Punishment is a cure for the soul
- 7Callicles argues that the strong should rule
- 8A good life is not a life of pleasure
- 9True statesmen, and judgment beyond Athens
Idea clave 1 de 9
Rhetoric is the craft of persuasion
The dialogue opens just after Gorgias has given a public talk. Socrates and his friend Chaerephon arrive late and ask to speak with him. Callicles, the host, says Gorgias is staying at his house and will gladly answer questions. Socrates does not want a speech. He wants short answers, one question at a time, and he explains that he will test each claim before moving on.
Socrates asks Gorgias what his craft is. Gorgias is a famous teacher from Sicily, and he says his craft is rhetoric. Socrates presses him. Every craft has a subject. Weaving deals with cloth, and medicine deals with health. What is rhetoric about?
Gorgias answers that it is about speeches. Socrates points out that many crafts use speech, including medicine and arithmetic. So Gorgias narrows his claim. Rhetoric, he says, deals with the greatest of human affairs, and it is about the speeches given in law courts and public assemblies.
Then Gorgias makes a bold boast. A rhetorician, he says, can persuade a crowd better than a doctor, an engineer or a trader, even on the subjects those experts know best. The expert may be right, but the speaker will win the vote. Gorgias says this power brings freedom for himself and rule over others in his city.
This claim matters because it is exactly what draws young men to teachers like him. It promises that skill with words is a kind of master skill. Socrates does not mock the claim. He simply asks the next question, and that question is what makes the boast begin to wobble.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Socrates
- An Athenian philosopher who questions Gorgias and his followers about persuasion, power, and the good life.
- Gorgias
- A visiting teacher of public speaking who answers Socrates and counts Polus among his followers.
- Polus
- A young follower of Gorgias who challenges Socrates and defends the power enjoyed by successful speakers.
- Callicles
- An ambitious Athenian and Gorgias's host who disputes Socrates' views about strength, desire, and happiness.
- Chaerephon
- A friend of Socrates who arrives with him and helps begin the questioning of Gorgias.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 60,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about Gorgias
What is Gorgias about?
Gorgias is a dialogue in which Socrates asks what rhetoric is and whether the power to persuade is good. The talk grows into a debate about justice, power, pleasure and how one ought to live.
Who is Gorgias in Plato's dialogue?
Gorgias was a real teacher of rhetoric from Leontini in Sicily, famous in Athens in the fifth century BC. In the dialogue he is a polite man who claims rhetoric is the greatest craft, and he gives the book its name.
Who are Polus and Callicles?
Polus is a young follower of Gorgias who thinks rhetoric gives tyrant-like power. Callicles is an ambitious Athenian who argues that by nature the strong should rule. Each takes a more extreme view than the one before.
What does Socrates mean by saying rhetoric is flattery?
He means that rhetoric, as these speakers practice it, aims to please the audience and not to improve it. He compares it to cookery, which pleases the taste without caring whether food is healthy.
Is Gorgias hard to read?
It is easier than many philosophy books because it is a conversation with clear speakers and sharp clashes. The questions, such as whether power or justice matters more, are easy to grasp.