Socrates and Gorgias

Author: Doyle, James

Source: Phronesis: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy, Volume 55, Number 1, 2010 , pp. 1-25(25)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

In this paper I try to solve some problems concerning the interpretation of Socrates' conversation with Gorgias about the nature of rhetoric in Plato's Gorgias (448e6-461b2). I begin by clarifying what, ethically, is at stake in the conversation (section 2). In the main body of the paper (sections 3-6) I address the question of what we are to understand Gorgias as believing about the nature of rhetoric: I criticise accounts given by Charles Kahn and John Cooper, and suggest an alternative account of my own. In the final section I spell out some of the implications of my account for the interpretation of the Gorgias, and of Plato more generally.

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Keywords: Plato; Davidson; Gorgias; rhetoric; ethics; justice

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/003188610X12589452898769

Affiliations: 1: University of Bristol, Department of Philosophy 9 Woodland Rd, Bristol BS8 1TB, UK Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, USA, Email: J.A.Doyle@bristol.ac.uk

Publication date: 2010-01-01