6 h 38 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 38 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if winning every argument leaves you unable to tell right from wrong?
In Plato’s Gorgias, Socrates meets Gorgias, a visiting teacher of public speaking, in Athens. He asks what rhetoric actually teaches. Gorgias and his followers, Polus and Callicles, face questions that reach far beyond speaking well. Can persuasion guide people toward justice if the speaker does not know what is good?
In a city where speeches shape power, these questions carry real weight. Polus defends the freedom of powerful men to do whatever they please. Callicles argues that the strong should rule. Socrates refuses to give way, testing whether success, pleasure and getting what you want can truly make a good life.
What you’ll discover
- Persuasion under pressure Follow Socrates as he asks whether convincing a crowd means teaching it anything true.
- Three increasingly bold opponents Meet Gorgias, Polus and Callicles as each brings a sharper challenge to the conversation.
- The cost of wrongdoing Consider Socrates’ unsettling claim that doing wrong harms a person more than suffering it.
- Punishment as a cure Explore an argument that treats punishment as help for the wrongdoer, rather than mere suffering.
- Pleasure put to the test Question whether satisfying every desire gives you the life you actually want to live.
Who will love it
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.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Rhetoric promises power over every crowd
- Persuading without knowing is dangerous
- Rhetoric is flattery, not a true craft
- Power is not doing whatever you please
- Doing wrong harms you more than suffering it
- Punishment is a cure for the soul
- Callicles argues for the strong and pleasure
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Gorgias
by Platon
In Athens, Socrates confronts teachers of persuasion over whether power or justice makes a good life.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What is a good speech worth if the speaker does not know what is right? Plato's Gorgias begins in Athens, where Socrates meets Gorgias, a visiting teacher of public speaking, as well as Polus and Callicles.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Rhetoric promises power over every crowd
Socrates asks Gorgias what his craft is. Gorgias says it is rhetoric, the art of speeches in law courts and public assemblies. He boasts that a speaker can win a vote against a doctor on the doctor's own subject.
Socrates does not mock the claim. He asks the next question, and the boast begins to wobble.
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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?
Callicles is an ambitious Athenian who argues that by nature the strong should rule. Each takes a more extreme view than the one before.
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