Plato's 'Gorgias'

This dialogue concerns the nature and purpose of rhetoric, which flourished in 5th-century BC Athens just as it does today. Socrates provocatively claims it is just flattery. But Gorgias, a famous orator and sophist, and his two young admirers Callicles and Polus, think rhetoric is necessary for the good life. But what is the good or just life? A life of power and freedom, and thus unbound licence and pleasure, as Callicles claims? Or a life where doing wrong makes us more miserable than suffering wrong, as Socrates suggest?

The Gorgias is probably Plato’s most acerbic work. It is replete with impassioned speeches, occasionally contradictory arguments, and powerful ideas; all arranged with great dramatic effect. In short: a great text. We read the entire dialogue and think it through in discussion. The text is a suitable introduction not only to Plato’s philosophical thought, but also to ancient philosophy in general.